Job not what was described

Drumstation

I have found myself in a job since December last year which isn’t what was advertised or sold to me. 

Basically the job forms 2 parts. One I have a lot of experience in. Second part not so much but both are loosely related. They knew this and accepted it. I am now 6 weeks into the job and haven’t as much as had a chance to do part 1 of the job. It has all been part 2 and I cannot see it getting better. There is supposed to be someone qualified in the second part of the job in the office.  It is a legal requirement.  I have met that person once in 6 weeks for 30 minutes. She works in another office or from home. That same person is my go to for questions. She ignores my calls and e-mails generally go unanswered for days or completely. I am completely out of my depth in an environment on my own. There is one other person in the office who I get on with but she has her own tasks to do. 

This week was too much. I was absolutely crushed on Thursday with volume, questions and meeting requirements. I sat in the car and cried.  It’s not an environment I want to work in. 

I am considering leaving but I am concerned about explaining such a quick job change and would appreciate any help you can give. Thanks so much. 

Drumstation

Thank you for your help. My CV does. My last roles were for 11 years and then 8 years prior so I don’t jump from job to job. Thanks again. 

getmore4less

Drumstation said:

I have found myself in a job since December last year which isn’t what was advertised or sold to me. 

Basically the job forms 2 parts. One I have a lot of experience in. Second part not so much but both are loosely related. They knew this and accepted it. I am now 6 weeks into the job and haven’t as much as had a chance to do part 1 of the job. It has all been part 2 and I cannot see it getting better. There is supposed to be someone qualified in the second part of the job in the office.  It is a legal requirement.  I have met that person once in 6 weeks for 30 minutes. She works in another office or from home. That same person is my go to for questions. She ignores my calls and e-mails generally go unanswered for days or completely. I am completely out of my depth in an environment on my own. There is one other person in the office who I get on with but she has her own tasks to do. 

This week was too much. I was absolutely crushed on Thursday with volume, questions and meeting requirements. I sat in the car and cried.  It’s not an environment I want to work in. 

I am considering leaving but I am concerned about explaining such a quick job change and would appreciate any help you can give. Thanks so much. 

You need to be batting off anything you can't do without help or input
Also scheduling your workload.

If you need answers from the other person(let's call them Shirley)
 that's what you tell the people needing answers, cc your boss.

Still waiting for a response from Shirley.

For new queries that need Shirley's input cc person needing the answers and boss.
That way they know where the bottleneck is.

New workload, that will have to wait till (day you can schedule it in) and identify early if it needs input from Shirley.

If it is important get you boss to prioritise what gets dropped.
 

TELLIT01

If your requests for assistance are being ignored by the person you are expected to go to, I would BCC your manager in any chase up e-mails you have to send.  Preface the follow up with something along the lines of "Hi (whoever) I'm not sure if you have seen my previous e-mail, but I can't make any progress until I have input from you.  Please advise on ......."

Savvy_Sue

TELLIT01 said:

If your requests for assistance are being ignored by the person you are expected to go to, I would BCC your manager in any chase up e-mails you have to send.  Preface the follow up with something along the lines of "Hi (whoever) I'm not sure if you have seen my previous e-mail, but I can't make any progress until I have input from you.  Please advise on ......."

I wouldn't even BCC, use CC instead - I used to make myself very popular with those who just did not return phone calls, but MY team weren't paid enough to deal with the fallout from that. So, email latest message to the worker, cc their manager, let their manager sort it out. "Hi Fred, I've just taken a third call from Mrs Smith, I have assured her that her messages are being passed on but she would really appreciate a callback." 

didn't have to do it too often ... 

getmore4less

Forgot in my earlier post, you cc your boss AND the other person's boss if different.

That way it's the boss level that need to consider the situation and negotiate time if the person just claims they are too busy

The escalation is the next level up

Who was doing the job before you?

There may be other issues going on here.

Marcon

getmore4less said:

Forgot in my earlier post, you cc your boss AND the other person's boss if different.

That way it's the boss level that need to consider the situation and negotiate time if the person just claims they are too busy

The escalation is the next level up

Who was doing the job before you?

There may be other issues going on here.

That'll either sort it out or bring OP's career with this lot to a very swift end!

kimwp

I would:
1. raise your concerns with your current management about the job not being advertised and give them a chance to change it

2. Not worry about what you can't do. (Easier said than done - I only managed this once a senior told me "decide what is important, decide how much of the important tasks you can do in the time you have, forget the rest (including meetings)" - adopting it (out of necessity due to the workload) completely changed my attitude to work, I was much calmer, happier and more confident.
3. If you've done what you can to improve the situation, then don't worry about it being a quick job change. I don't think you need to say it's your mistake, but just say it wasn't as advertised. Be prepared to say why and what you want in a job, while acknowledging that you know that all jobs have some tasks that might not be everyone's preferred ones and everyone needs to be a team player.

LittleMax

I really wouldn't worry.  Just tell the truth - the job was advertised as 50% X and 50% Y, my heart and experience are X but the job ended up being Y.  I am applying for this role because it is very much X which is what I enjoy and where I perfom to my best.

MalMonroe

They should have given you a Job Description at the very least, so you know exactly what is expected of you. (In writing).

Don't you have a line manager? Or any other manager? It sounds as if the person who is supposed to answer your questions hasn't been asked to do so and is resentful about it anyway. It doesn't sound like a good place to work at all. For one, there's no communication. You've just been expected to hit the ground running. Not always feasible.

Before you leave why not ask for a meeting with either, or both managers. At the very least, in your position, I'd want to know why the job I took on just hasn't matched up to the job I was offered and accepted.

getmore4less

Marcon said:

getmore4less said:

Forgot in my earlier post, you cc your boss AND the other person's boss if different.

That way it's the boss level that need to consider the situation and negotiate time if the person just claims they are too busy

The escalation is the next level up

Who was doing the job before you?

There may be other issues going on here.

That'll either sort it out or bring OP's career with this lot to a very swift end!

If it doesn't change they will be leaving anyway.

Exit interview does not end up being a why didn't you tell us.