I could seriously do with some advice. This may turn out to be longwinded, but I am genuinely baffled as to what to do about this, and feeling quite stressed about it - so if you have any words of wisdom, please help me!
I left a job I had been in for 4 years in 2006, shortly after returning from maternity leave with my first child. On my return I had a pretty horrid situation with the girl who had done my job in my absence. She was a junior member of staff who had 'acted up' as me while I was away (for a year) and didn?t take kindly to my return and her subsequent demotion. In a nutshell, she behaved completely unprofessionally (shockingly so, actually) and made my life a misery for several months.
I went through all the normal channels to try to resolve this at the time - talking to her, talking to my boss, mediation etc - but my boss (let's call him A) was extremely unsupportive. It sounds crazy, and I could never quite put my finger on it, but I had always felt like A disliked me but sort of fancied me at the same time!?. Nothing explicit, but this was the impression I got over a number of years (he had been a senior manager, although not my line manager, in a job I had had previously in another department of the same organisation, going back to 2000/1, and I'm pretty sure he fancied me back in those days...). Anyway, he basically shafted me over this situation, told me to 'get on with it' and ignored my requests that this girl be dealt with for her outrageous behaviour. In the end, I had to go to HR and make the complaint formal, both aaginst this girl and against him. One of the things this girl said, which came out in my statement for HR, was that she refused to listen to directions I gave her which came from another one of the line managers (let's call her B) because 'B is only in her job because she shagged A'. I agonised over whether or not to include this in my conversations with HR, but it was one of a catalogue of unprofessional things this girl said, so I felt like my hands were tied and I had to press home just how terrible she was). I never spoke explicitly to manager A about this in the end (we werent allowed to discuss the situation alone once HR came on board) but the vibe was even worse from then on. It was a short lived situation in the end, as when HR started talking about me going for constructive dismissal etc, I decided to hand in my notice. The organisation I was at is a big organisation and one that I really didn't want to burn my bridges wioth in terms of future employment. So, I left a job I loved and was really cut about it for some months. Not good.
Fast forward to this year (I have been at home as a SAHM and doing lots of freelance work since all this happened). A job came up at the same organisation, in a completely different department, that had my name on it. I applied and got it. I've been here for 5 mths now and am absolutely loving it, but unfortunately, my position isn't funded beyond the 6 mth contract, so I have had to start looking at other jobs. Another job recently came up, back in my old department but in a different role and, I assumed, not working directly with my old manager A. Found out today I have been shortlisted and lo and behold - A is interviewing me, along with another member of management I don't know. I am a) gutted, as I am pretty sure Iwont get the job now, b) terrified - sure A is going to make this as hellish an experience as possible for me as 'payback', and c) totally in two minds about whether I should even go to the interview or not. I am also slightly concerned that manager A, who I don't think is going to be my line manager in the role (pretty sure - he works ina different area) is interviewing me. I get the feeling he saw my name and decided he'd be the one to interview me. This could just be paranoia, but heis a very powerful man and very wily, so not totally unthinkable. I am also starting to wonder whether I really want to go back to a dept where thisman has power. But at the same time, the job is a dream job, more money, more senior and I could totally do it in my sleep.
If you have got this far, WELL DONE and THANK YOU. Now tell me, oh wise ones, what should I do?
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This is a nightmare! Please, please advise...
10 replies
BiancaJackson · 29/09/2009 16:11
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