I've name changed so I can be as candid as I want in my moan. I work for a really big company and today we had a grad intake welcome day. In my team, I'm the youngest (I'm in my late twenties) and the most junior so I was asked to volunteer to facilitate, mostly because about half of the grads have joined our department and will therefore be people we come into contact with.
My team is a highly specialised (and skilled) team, whereas the grads and anyone joining the department as an apprentice etc. will be a generalist for the first few years of their career, at least until they have a professional qualification and a bit of experience. I'm in a more senior role, although very much in the middle of the hierarchy.
All the new grads were lovely. Interested in what I did in my role, asking how they can get involved and generally just seemed to be getting a lot out of the day. I really enjoyed facilitating for them.
The existing junior colleagues, on the other hand, annoyed me. Over lunch and during the downtimes we spent some time together. I hadn't met a number of them, especially the school leaver apprentices or grads who had joined in the last year or so, so I did a lot of the general introductions and finding out what people were working on etc. Things that wound me up included:
- I asked someone what they did and they told me they were about to move into a team in the department that I support as technical specialist. I said that sounded great, we'd probably cross paths as I deliver XYZ for the team. I was then given a bit of a speech about how they really should have been placed in that team from the off as they'd studied a module on it at university. I said that sounds great because I know the team have recently won work in that area, which was answered with 'yeah of course I know, I've actually got a call with Mrs A tomorrow about that. Do you know Mrs A? She's actually just been promoted'. - I know A very well, which would have been overwhelmingly clear to anyone who had listened to anything I'd said previously.
- Someone (who has received written and verbal training/ briefings I've delivered) who mentioned a new joiner to our team and said 'It must be good for you, having someone who has actually got experience in that industry in the team'. They at least had the grace to look a bit embarrassed when I replied I'd actually worked in that industry for four years before my current role.
- Another person who complained they'd been dragged into a team doing quite boring work, and I said I sympathised because I'd spent the first few years of my career doing that exact thing. They must've just listened, eyes glazed, because they narrated all the very boring procedures they have to perform and gave me a run down of exactly why they had to do it. I said 'I know' quite a bit.
I came away feeling quite pissed off. I know it's just small-talk but we all work in a department of about 120 people so if they stick around it's quite likely they'll be asking me for assistance in the next year or so. Beyond that it just felt like none of them actually gave a shit about what I was saying. It's completely the opposite from how I act when I'm speaking to people senior to me, or to be honest how I spoke to them.
Bloody hell that was long, but I needed to get it off my chest. Yes, I know I'm being precious.