Am i in the right job?

us,thecat&thedebt

hi everyone,

feeling a bit tearful at the moment so bare with me if i dont make a lot of sense..

to start im 20 years old (almost 21) started work when i finished my alevels at 18. i temped in a lot of different fields for just over a year before settleing in my current job a year ago.


i work for an EA that was established early last year and basically manage the lettings department.. when i started i had no experience of lettings apart from the fact id rented before..

i built the whole department from scratch as no one on sales side had much of a clue apart from finding tenants

now im only 20 i dont have any experience apart from the past year where if im honest i have learnt alot from my mistakes.

i am pretty my left to it with two negs whom find tenants however they also do sales..

basically lettings is just a side line to other employees (they would rather get a sale) and if something goes wrong im held responsible..

i work mon-fri 9-7pm and have the weekends off..

so now you with the situation i hope...

i love my job to bits in the sense that i just get on with my work and it keeps me busy, im not the most organised person in the world.. i know where my stuff is though..

so last week i was off sick not something that hapens very often. i was called up to 6 times a day and a texted at least 10 times a day over 3 days..

the same happens at weekends or if i book holiday..

with my sort of job it is hard to anticipate what will happen from one day to the next..

so to the point of why im upset today..

i had a late night last night and got up about a two hours ago.. (terrible i know) my phone was in the bathroom (dont know why) and on silent..

work called me 8 times from 9.30am this morning...

and my manager left me a message saying i better call work its urgent.

i went to the toilet and noticed the missed call message so called work..

i sent a cleaner into a property yesterday after a tenant vacated and left it in a tip, the cleaner i usually use was sick so i called a company who left a card in the office, basically they did a !!!! job and the new tenant has kicked off.. so its my fault for not checking the cleaning companies work. (btw the new tenant had moved in that day as they didnt want to wait for it to be cleaned)

now im in tears cause i know im going to be had a go at on monday..

to add this may seem silly but its just one small thing in a line of other things..

my head is telling me to walk away i work my ar*e of with hardly any reconginition and feel the only reason i havent been got rid of is because there would be no one to cover nme..

but i love my job i suppose i just... i dont know but i think i need some hugs?

shameless-about-money

It sounds like harrassment to me.

It is time you put an official Grievance in to the Manager about your treatment.
If you are off sick they should not be phoning you repeatedly throughout the day - this is just checking up on you.

Get a letter written asap and get it sorted. Moving on to another job won't help much really, since your current employer might just not give you a good reference. Best to get it sorted.

us,thecat&thedebt

thanks for you reply,

i too think bringing it up is a good idea.. its just difficult as we are a small company

Savvy_Sue

It's very hard at your age (been there done that got the t-shirt!) when people leave you to get on with something but hold you responsible for everything without giving you support. If you can stand up for yourself now, it'll stand you in good stead throughout your life!

Prepare yourself before you go in: if the work you do is important to the agency, then they need to put in a plan to cover when you are not there, and that includes sick leave as well as holidays. If that means your colleagues knowing slightly more about what you do and how you do it, fine. If it means one colleague deputising in your absence, that's fine too. But there needs to be a strategy: I always call it the "If I fell under a bus" strategy.

And if the work you do ISN'T important to the agency, there's plenty of people who would appreciate it, aren't there! You've got yourself a load of easily transferable skills, and there's not that many jobs where you'd be expected to work a 45 hour week!

us,thecat&thedebt

hi sue,

i like your if i fell under a bus route..

i think its down to everyone not really careing about the lettings side..'

i dont think anyone realises how hard i work until im not there..


with regards to the 45 hour week i work 50 hours plus as i only take 10 mins to eat a sandwich and am always there before 9 and after 7


i guess half the time i feel like im in charge of what im doing and the next im a dumb kid!

my colleagues refer to people as speak to *** she deals with the lettings admin! ADMIN i deal with the whole department and its alot more than ADMIN!

I know it sounds petty but it really annoys me!

the mortage adviser has an administrator who is on £5k a year more than me.. yes she is 6 years older than me, no she has no more experience in her feild than i have mine, in fact she only started in september and it was her first mortgage job, and i can honestly say she works half as hard as i do. if she is off sick nobody calls her she gets in at 9 and goes at 7

but shes on more money because she is older any views on this?

tanith

They are definately taking advantage of your good nature and you really need to speak to the manager.. its difficult but its got to be done... There is no way they should be ringing you at home when you are on leave of off sick... someone else needs to deputise as the others have suggested...

Have you thought of actually applying for jobs with other agents... I am sure you are a lot more experienced than your present firm acknowledges and it would give you a real boost if you could get offers from other firms in the area... even if you really didn't want to move it might give u the confidence to approach your boss.

skysky69

I would question whether the wage that they pay me is worth the hours that you are working every week. If they are employing you only in an administration role then that seems far too much responsibility to me. If you are paid a higher salary, then there are certain things that come with the job. I still think that it sounds like a bit of bullying - or harassment.

My OH has a works mobile phone and can get calls at any hour as he is the main keyholder at work and if the alarm goes off, he has in the past had to go into work at 2.45am and wait around for the alarm engineering to come and reset it etc. But, he gets paid a Manager's wage and therefore this is one of the things that comes with the job.

Is the mobile a company mobile or your own?

liney

I dont think its 'Am i in the right job' its more like ' Am i working for the right company'.

If it is your mobile, answer the call the first time, and end the conversation with ' And as i am ill, i'm turning my phone off now and going back to bed'.

However, if they are calling your because they can't find XYZ then you need a better filing system ) That they are all aware of.

us,thecat&thedebt

Hi,

good point about the am i working for the right company

i heard a saying today.. if you do a job well theres a chance no one will notice you have done it at all...

no the mobile is not a work mobile and no i do not get a managers wage (the mort admin gets more money than i do)

i think im a soft touch they know i will answer the phone and think i am bullied into responding because of my age.. i mean how many woman in there late 20s ect would respond to a 'you'd better call XXX at work its urgent'

its more of a case of not bothering to look, every property has a file ect someone comes in and says ive come to sign contracts for xyz and its straight on the phone where is the... and im like have you looked in the file? where the contracts are!

or something unpredictable happens, a tenants toilet gets blocked, no one thinks to call the landlord, call the plumber we use (everyone has his number)

so its back to the grindstone tomorrow will prob get a bo**cking about sat but im at the point where i dont care i mean i lit feel like if this isnt good enough for you sack me.. in fact i quit!

no ive got responsibiltys so i will find another job first :T

it gives me a lil more confiedence knowing that my feelings are normal and i am being taken advantage off.


Thank you to everyone who has posted advice all i need now is some hugs and a few good lucks :beer:

cazarol

I'm sending a hug and wishing you the best of luck.

us,thecat&thedebt

Thanks, just hope i can sleep tonight im the sort of person who will worry and keep playing it through my mind!