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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To feel she is getting away with murder

53 replies

dazzledsazzle · 21/05/2012 11:59

We have a new starter at work. She has worked in another role and got transferred to us. At first i thought what a nice girl but increasingly i am wondering how she got the job. Its her second month and she is still getting daily help from her best friend in the other dept and our guy who sits next to her. Her job is very basic spreasheets of who needs training , who needs renewing for legal reasons etc . But she still needs daily help (filtering A-Z by last name, selecting the data and pressing a kep to do a pie chart of it). She even sends stuff to the analyst next to her who has a completely diff role and he does it for her! An average day involves 3 phone calls to her friend re. how to filter (again) and two 'how do I's' over stuff she should know to the guy next to her. Her friend is also up here all the time and last time i had a crisis with my role & needed some advice from a colleague both of them turned to me as if i was disturbing them when in fact their chatter was disturbing me and my usually quick thought/prob solving process. Am i a mean old bag ? Also, i have noticed a lot of quiet texting going on: as soon as i leave my desk and ,guilty looks when she notices i have walked past back to my desk next to her & seen what she is doing (hiding it with your long hair just makes me wonder why you are hunched over like that love)! Its a really busy dept and we all work hard and i feel she it taking the mick ...and got the job bcos of the cute suits! She is always late too and never chats to the women, only the men.....hey ho, the sooner i get my counselling quals off i go ... office life eh ?..

OP posts:

theincredibequeenofwands · 21/05/2012 12:01

I work with someone who wears headphones for the entire shift (nursing home).

Never hears anything.

Some people get away with stuff........!

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 21/05/2012 12:04

Actually you do sound like a mean old bag as you put it!

Why dont you just concentrate on your own job and stop worrying about hers.

Original poster

dazzledsazzle · 21/05/2012 12:25

Because she is right next to me and i can't concentrate while she has usually two people stood next to her talking loudly showing her yet again how to do a simple spreadhseet. Thats her job, 1 spreadsheet .. which she can't do...2months in..... for which she is paid the earth ...i couldn;t minute the conf call the other day because they were so loud i missed a bit then i got bollocked for innacurate minutes. ...

OP posts:

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 21/05/2012 12:28

Then just politely ask them if they could talk a bit quieter ...thats what I do when my colleagues are on the phone and talking really loudly......no point sitting and stewing about it....I say this after years of working in various offices. Just zone her out and eventually you wont even notice what she is/isnt doing.

VickityBoo · 21/05/2012 12:32

Doesn't she take notes and write step by steps on how to do things? That's what I always have done and keep the book until I leave at which point, if it's legible, I pass it to the next person.

Original poster

dazzledsazzle · 21/05/2012 12:44

I asked her where her written notes were the other day as the girl who used to do it spent HOURS with her before she left. She just went 'but its the first time i have done it'. Er, 2months in ?! Really ?! And what did she write when 'Sadie' sat with her before she left, she was writing reams then! Her friend looks at me like how dare you speak if i speak to anyone re my work when she is up here !! Like i am the loud/disturbing one !

Thx for advice Betty: her friend is kinda scary.. guess i should man up ..

OP posts:

Fireandashes · 21/05/2012 12:44

Echo *Betty - nothing wrong with telling them you've got a conference call due in X minutes so would they mind being quiet so you can minute it (assuming you can't book a meeting room/ empty office to take it in rather than having to do it at your desk).

It's frustrating having to work with someone who doesn't pull their weight, but IME they get caught out sooner or later so just concentrate on doing your own job as well as possible and only engage if she actively asks you for help. Don't waste your energy getting stressed to the eyeballs about it or let the situation turn you into a passive-aggressive whinger.

theoldtrout01876 · 21/05/2012 12:46

Nope you are not a mean old bag,we have 1 at my job also. Huge waste of space as far as Im concerned,almost totally useless.It makes me crazy too

lou2321 · 21/05/2012 12:48

YANBU to have a moan but unfortunately that is life and wherever you go there will be people like that. If it doesn't actually directly affect your work then just let her get on with it and like Betty says just asked them to be quiet.

I worked in an office with one other girl who was having an affair with another member of staff. Their constant little chats really pissed me off as it was hard to concentrate.

I wish I had said something politely like Betty said but I let it bottle up and then said something everso NOT polite.

Original poster

dazzledsazzle · 21/05/2012 12:51

Thx oldtrout ! I was going to offer to help her at first, but when i noticed it was the same things every day over and over i thought i am just going to get dragged in like the guy next to her who does it for her !! She doesn't write it down, doesn;'t take it in. Its like sitting next to a goldfish!

Meeting rooms are in short supply here so we do conf calls wherever possible and i am mistress of the minutes ...

OP posts:

bigjoeent · 21/05/2012 12:54

Who does she work for in the office? Is there anyway you could drop a subtle hint to them? Maybe suggest some excel training? She won't have any excuse after that...... maybe....

Its really annoying, I hate it when someone is not pulling their weight when everyone else is, she'll get found out soon enough. Don't let her friend intimidate you, you're the one working, she isn't.

theodorakis · 21/05/2012 13:32

If you are her supervisor then offer training. if you are not, either tell your supervisor or let it go.

curiositykitten · 21/05/2012 13:37

Did she kill someone? No? Then she's not getting off with murder, is she?

Tell your supervisor.

Original poster

dazzledsazzle · 21/05/2012 14:26

No she didn't kill anyone but she got a job in a very competitive job market in a hugely famous company people would kill to work for by obviously lying about her skill set and is now getting others to do it for her: and making me feel like i disturb her when its the other way around .. way of the world i suppose. I am just sorry for the graduates who don't have cute suits who could probably do it better and didn;t lie on their cv .. we all blag a bit but not to the extent that we totally don't have the one skill vital to the job and we don't train people up, we are a 1yr project that needs people w. experience and matching skillset . That was very much stressed to me at my interview, if you don't have the skillset we can't afford the time to train you and we dont carry passengers.

OP posts:

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 21/05/2012 14:31

Did you see her CV then to know that she lied on it? If your company dont carry passengers and she is as incompetent as you say she is, she wont last long there anyway.

You do sound a bit jealous of her to be honest!

When I got my first job in my current line of business one of the other girls used to say I only got the job because my boss fancied me......fast forward three years and I was made her manager.........she was made to eat her words! Still, every office has them I suppose!

theodorakis · 21/05/2012 14:41

Welcome to LIFE! I have used the cute suit and lipstick for years, I am lucky enough to have a supportive workplace where people don't slag me off on the internet (do they? DO THEY?) and are always able to offer support or extra training if I need it.

Original poster

dazzledsazzle · 21/05/2012 14:43

Yep i have seen it, its total fantasy. I only know this as i met someone i hadn't seen in years who has just started in her old dept. Acc to my mate all she did there was bit of photocopying & filing. Nearly finished my counselling degree and be off to a totally different life when i finish this so it makes no odds. Its just so, so sad that people who lie are in work when good friends w. better skills who don't lie are still unemployed ...

OP posts:

monkeymoma · 21/05/2012 14:44

she's texting about how mean you are
she talks to the men because they don't write her off for wearing "cute suits" like you do

its better to admit to what you don't know and ask for help then to just carry on and bodge it for fear of looking stupid

theodorakis · 21/05/2012 14:45

You sound a bit like you look down on the job and the people a bit. Not a great start for a counselling career

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 21/05/2012 14:46

Yeah, I bet you and her ex colleague had a good old bitch about her didnt you....nice!!

Times are hard and most people stretch the truth some way or another in a cv.....hardly a hanging offence. Like people have said, if she isnt up for the job she'll get found out soon enough, give her enough string and she'll hang herself and no doubt you will have the front row seat hey!!

theodorakis · 21/05/2012 14:47

I am a senior manager in an Arabic corporation and the highest non national woman in the company. I started out in admin and didn't even know how to work excel. Lucky I sat next to someone who helped me get started. I certainly haven't looked back.

monkeymoma · 21/05/2012 14:48

hard to concentrate on remembering new skills BTW if you're getting huffs and puffs and tuts and eye rolls from the mean bag next to you!

Original poster

dazzledsazzle · 21/05/2012 15:09

No -met friend from way back in the lunch queue and she said where she worked and i said oh so and so worked there and she went yes, i do her job. Then we made arrangements to meet up for girls night out. That was it. I haven't mentioned it to anyone else. Why would i look down on a job i used to do? I have friends who would love that job and could do it well thats all. And yes as i said, we all blag a bit ...but while people I know might talk up an old job they wouldn't totally lie. I'm a northern girl/so are lot of my mates, we tend to be bit straight up.. maybe we are old fashioned ..

I talk to her every day, ask her how her weekend was , admire her outfits (she has v v good taste) but she never speaks to me first & same w. other women. I have offered to help but got a very nasty look and told very firmly that her friend 'will be up soon to do it', ...then i realised it was re same thing every day anyway & left well alone ... She's not a woman's woman perhaps and there is nothing wrong w. looking good either. That/they are not my point: I have realised Mumsnet isn't the place to wonder out loud so won't again ..

OP posts:

Longdistance · 21/05/2012 15:15

Don't worry, when promotion comes up, she'll be your boss sniggers
She'd drive me nuts too. She might as well not be there if the guy sitting next to her, does it for her!

kiwimumof2boys · 22/05/2012 04:03

What about her friend and the guy constantly helping her - don't they get behind in their work ? doesn't their boss wonder what they're doing when they're away from their desks ? hmmmmm . . . . a future cubefrau i believe . ..

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