I've been in new job 3 weeks...

[Uprising]

... and I hate it.

The role is not what I was expecting, or led to believe in the interview.

I was told on my first day that they weren't sure how they were going to use me. Have been informed since that nobody knew I had been employed until I contacted the department prior to starting .

I've been proactive in finding work so far, but once I've finished doing what I'm doing, I've got nothing to do!! It's frustrating because I know there would be work elsewhere in the company.

I have a mentor, but they work out of a different office/part of building to me. Would it be worth talking to them, or is that out of a mentors remit?

If I can't get something sorted and leave during my probation, how the hell do I explain the short period of employment without sounding totally negative?

Thanks. Won't be able to respond until Mon eve

[Ferguson]

I would have thought your mentor would be able to deal with any early problems you have, or if they can't solve it, at least advise you who could help.

Did you have anything in writing before you started, job description, etc?

Maybe keep an informal 'diary' each day, so you have a record of what work you get - or don't get. Is it a 'reputable' organisation? Without knowing more details it's difficult to more advice.

Did you have to search for long to find the job, and how many previous jobs have you had?

(I was a supervisor in offices, with a staff of 30, in departments in several locations all over the country, and sometimes also had Yr10 girls for work experience - but that was forty years ago, when obviously finding jobs was a lot easier than today, so that's not much help to you.)

If you need more help, and don't get it on this 'thread' PM me if you like, and I'll see what else I can suggest.

Hope you get it sorted out.

[LovesBeingHereAgain]

What about your line manager?

[Uprising]

Thanks for your responses.

I have a job description and the role isn't meeting the description.

Spoke to my line manager two weeks ago the response was just 'don't give up on us yet'. Also spoke to one of the people who interviewed me and received 'at least you have a job!'

The head asked on Monday how my role was going, rightly or wrongly I responded that they were wasting money on my role as courses were being cancelled. No courses = no work. Also said I'd speak to mentor and try and sort something out.

I met with my Mentor, she wasn't too happy as there is lots of work I can be doing elsewhere in the organisation. Funding streams between departments and my primary responsibility being elsewhere, will make transfer and regular work more difficult, but not impossible.

Horrible feeling I may get a name as a trouble maker, negative etc.

Finding it ultra frustrating as I left my last job due to lack of challenge, being under utilised, no promotion prospects combined with work dropping off over last 18 months which meant a lot of time sitting round with nothing to do. Feeling like I have gone from frying pan to fire.

I'm arranging to meet with my previous manager later this week to see if she will write a testimonial for me, in the hope it will make it easier if I do find something else (old company won't give references other than the statutory requirements)

[LovesBeingHereAgain]

So apart from don't give up on us yet, was tgere any indication when things might improve?

Having to beg for something to do is horrible been tgere but could you find things to ie future planning, reviewing course material etc? Things that cone performance review time you can evidence things you've done?

[Uprising]

No indication that things will improve within the department. We rely upon another agency booking people on the course, then dependant on sufficient numbers turning up. Apparently nothing can be done to ensure agency book people, or that people attend! So it's not until a Monday that we know definitely whether the course is running or not, it can then be cancelled at any time during the week if student's fail to attend and they fall below a certain number inefficient.

Informed yesterday there is no course for next week, mentor was going to arrange for me to work elsewhere. Today I've been informed there is a course running, so will now have to tell mentor I can't help elsewhere. Come Monday, who knows!!

I had found a part of a new course that hadn't been written. Pointed it out to tutor, who wasn't aware (in my first week). I've done the research, found/designed activities, had an attempt at a lesson plan for one of the days and emailed everything over as I've done it.

Today I've been asked to do all the lesson plans/power points for the other four days! Needs to be done today by Fri,it won't be as it took me two days to put together the stuff for one day it's annoying is I know I'd have had it completed by now if I'd been asked to do it in the first place. Grrr

[LovesBeingHereAgain]

So tgere is stuff you can do they just don't know it

[Phineyj]

I had pretty much exactly this situation once and was - trying to look busy while surfing Amazon and stretching out little bits of work is exhausting - also they didn't like people leaving on time so I had to sit there till the boss left. I had the same experience of asking people for more work and getting grumped at, then getting urgent tasks with short deadlines dumped, then twiddling thumbs again. Eventually I spent the time writing job applications and got some freelance work to tide me over till I had a new job, then just left that one off my CV. I also used to spend a lot of time at lunchtime choosing exactly what to eat! It was mad, they bought me a nice goodbye present too .

[Uprising]

Phiney - My CV has been rewritten this week, I'll be looking at jobs again once I've got some free timethis work and my decorating out of the way.

Loves - there was. They'd recently changed to a new course, person who sourced it/was going to deliver it, downloaded course content and presumed it was ready to go. It wasn't until I looked at it and thought the slides didn't seem sufficient for a 30 hr course, then looked at course requirements to find it only covered the first section. You either write your own or pay another company to produce the additional material. Nobody had checked, it could have made an interesting lesson.

I got stuck today, couldn't see how to link power points to lesson plan. Mentioned something to colleague 'oh yeah, that's where I got stuck and thought it would be better with a fresh pair of eyes' turned round and left to mess about with another colleague. Funny thing is, there is no evidence that he did get to the same point, because purely by accident, he deleted his power point yesterday!

[tribpot]

It sounds beyond dreadful. I'd be tempted to walk sooner rather than later, as it will be very hard to explain a four month assignment ('it was dreadful but I believed it would get better, only it didn't').

You're having virtually no contact with your line manager, was that expected?

I understand your mentor is doing what she can to keep you occupied but she ought really to be flagging a major problem with the way your department is being run. These aren't teething troubles where a busy department is struggling to find the time to get you up to speed and make you productive, it's just a car crash.

[Uprising]

Can I just say thank you all for responding. Your replies have been helpful. I wasn't too sure when I originally posted if I was being unfair/negative, so it's nice to have some affirmation that it's not 'me'.

Tribpot - You're right it is a car crash. My line manager works out of a different building. We have a course manager below the line manager, but other than the admin clerk he has no people management responsibilities, as far as I'm aware. To tell you the truth, I don't even think he knows what I've been doing for the last 4 weeks, he's certainly never asked, even when it was only the two of us working in the building for a week, with no courses running.