To resign after six weeks?

[Senco23]

I was excited to start a new job six weeks ago which sounded good on paper. I've realised colleagues have been very unaccommodating. Mostly giving 'I don't know' or 'It's not my role' or 'Ask x instead' when asking the simplest questions. No friendliness and basically saying, 'hello' when I arrive and 'goodbye' at the end of the day. I decided to ignore this attitude and get on with the work.

Here's the thing. I work part-time hours and my job spec was vague - basically listing a whole range of roles that I may have to assist in & some that I need to manage. I'm now doing ALL the roles listed on the job spec (which are several professions in themselves) squashed into my part-time hours! In addition, the other team members have sent me everything from the smallest admin jobs (printing) to designing the sales plan for the entire company!

One of the colleagues who has passed a load of work onto me follows up with about 20 emails a day - 'have you managed to get this done?', or 'can you do this in the next 30 mins' or 'this is urgent and needs to be completed asap!' but she is not my manager, is treating me like a child and the emails are driving me insane!

My actual boss saw me once at the beginning and only retuned this week. He asked if I had done x, y & z. When I said I had done x, y but not z due to work load he said 'I'm very concerned by this' and asked why not. I told him the truth - that my workload is huge, people have passed a lot to me, I'm spending a lot of time on smaller roles as well as my own role and haven't had time for job z which is something entirely different! He didn't seem at all sympathetic or understanding. We have a huge event next week which I'm taking a main role in (even though I've only been there 6 weeks). In addition, he now wants me to lead on another role at the same event and said, 'You really need to be up to scratch by then because the CEO will be there!' WTF?

I asked if someone else could do the smaller jobs and his response was 'Just finish them quickly and focus on the CEO!' Instead of making my workload more manageable he's actually given me more! The big event is at the end of next week and in some ways I feel I should stick it out but the pressure is on and the people there don't seem to care for my wellbeing in the slightest. I've come to hate going into work. Not once have I felt appreciated in this position and the working environment is horrible - unprofessional, disorganised, hostile etc! I've become stressed and think they are expecting a hell of a lot after just six weeks in the role with minimal support. I am employed on a temporary contract (6 months) so this was never going to be a long-term role. AIBU to resign now?

What is your financial position and how likely are you to find another job. Although this job sounds rubbish living on low income and job hunting is as well. Will these need a reference?

Bear in mind if you need to claim a benefit as a jobseeker you are likely to be sanctioned if you have not tried to resolve problems.
Subject to that leave if it is very stressful, life is too short.

Resign - the whole point of a probation period is to understand if a company is a good fit for you, as much as the other way round. This isn't, and it won't change.

If you are going to resign I'd do it before the event. Otherwise they will just treat your replacement in the same way.

I do think you should speak to HR. They would be very concerned (or should be) to hear what's happening. And don't risk your health - they are in the wrong here.

I would have said argue your points re overwork if it had not been for the boss comment....let the idiot be concerned...

I would leave...

I had a job like this... No training...unfriendly people. And I was too naive to realise that my new colleagues were right royally taking the piss...

Oh look here's comes the new temp, what hated tasks can we dump on her.

It sounds the combination of stupid boss, unfriendly colleagues and dumping you with loads of unmanageable work is untenable...also staff throughput is a fed flag.

Id leave ASAP... I wouldn't include it on my cc, get anything else

Yes, I was/am really confused over the 'I'm very concerned to hear this' remark and the optimistic side of me wonders if he meant he was concerned by the workload I have. But since he gave me more work on top of that - the task of impressing the CEO and needing to be 'up to scratch' - it sounds like he just wants to save his reputation & doesn't care about my workload at all! I've been there for 6 weeks and the more I think about it the more ridiculous it seems.

I do need the money but there is another role I could do for a couple of months, although the pay would be lower. I could do this until I hopefully find something better. So yes, poorer but less stressed.

How about having an auto reply on your email

"Boss has asked me to prioritise X event therefore I will not be able to assist with any non related tasks due to current workload"

Just put them to the bottom of the task list and when they ask if something can be done in half an hour say "no"

I ended up working eight years for a company I should have left after 4 weeks! It never got any better really so I wish I had left right after the first month. Life is too short to battle on in that environment.

Thanks all The whole thing has been on my mind and stressing me out. With part-time hours it clearly is impossible unless a big chuck of my work is given to someone else. He clearly has no idea about my workload or how long each individual job takes. I was planning on seeing him asap to discuss all of this but I'm nervous and will have to stay up tonight after kids in bed writing lost list of my current tasks and think of constructive things to say so this job is doable. I don't like how all the pressure is on me to impress the bigwigs after just 6 weeks - that was not in my job description! Given attitude from colleagues & his previous comments, I'm currently thinking about resigning asap... or should I meet him first at least as he may genuinely have no idea?

Discuss it with him certainly otherwise you will never know. However, don't let him dismiss your concerns.
In hindsight I wish I had gone on my gut instincts instead of staying in a job where I was never going to be happy or valued.

I really wouldn't waste any more time on it....
Even if you tell him you're overworked... I'm pretty sure they're not going to turn around and be easier on you in the next two weeks when you're busting a gut to do their impossible tasks...

I would give a weeks notice... Or say you'll only stay on until this big do as long as they immediately cancel all your off task jobs and free up someone else to help you... If this doesn't happen immediately the one weeks notice still stands and your last day will be next Monday or this Friday... Depending hiw your notice period works

I stayed in a highly sought after job for 3 years longer than i should have... Appalling boss who went on to bully other people....

It made me ill, and 10 years later my health never really recovered.

I wonder why the previous person left.....

After discussing with him also make sure you follow up on email ‘thank you for our meeting regarding x. To confirm, these are a list of my concerns...’ so they can’t scape goat you if you stick it out and something goes wrong. Do the same after every meeting - get it in writing

If it was just the workload I'd say meet with him and try to work out what's reasonable. But since you're saying it's a hostile environment and you're not enjoying the place in general I'd just quit.
In fact I'd probably get enjoyment out of leaving them in the lurch after the way they've been treating you. I've done it before, satisfying! Had a new job to go to of course. Make sure you tell them exactly why you're quitting too maybe cc in the whole company

I went to a new job and knew within the first week it was wrong for me (could easily cope with the work but the travel was difficult and colleagues were awful)

I should have left straight away but I was young and needed the money.

6 months later they made me redundant (thankfully)

I stayed 5 months and 3 weeks too long - get out now while you’ve still got your sanity

I agree with these two posts:

Send your manager a message saying that you are considering resigning due to the unrealistic expectations and lack of training and line management. Ask what they'd prefer - for you to resign and to recruit again or to sit down with you and work out a sensible workload with key priorities and someone to delegate the surplus to.

Or say you'll only stay on until this big do as long as they immediately cancel all your off task jobs and free up someone else to help you... If this doesn't happen immediately the one weeks notice still stands and your last day will be next Monday or this Friday... Depending hiw your notice period works

With part-time hours it clearly is impossible unless a big chuck of my work is given to someone else. He clearly has no idea about my workload or how long each individual job takes.

Tell him precisely this. Gauge his response - if he doesn’t get it, then you need to resign.

It’s quite common for poorly managed companies to shunt FT work onto PTers or for unscrupulous colleagues to dump stuff on temps. Don’t be the mug who puts up with it.

It may take several resignations before your boss gets the message.

Personally I'd just resign. Years ago I knew very early on that my new job was a mess of a role in a poorly managed place.
I told the boss about some of my concerns and they were horrid to ma about daring to pipe up. They tried to ruin my reputation and blame me for everything.

I agree, this is a a very real possibility.

I would treat your discussion the boss as a test. If he takes it all on board and re-organises your role, ok. If he obviously doesn’t get it, tries to blame you, or if he does lip service to change but the situation continues - get out.

I agree there's a danger in pointing out issues to your boss. I also had a backlash when I tried to raise concerns. They didn't get rid of me as they knew my work was good but they made things very difficult in other ways.

If you are guaranteed a couple of months work elsewhere, I would go for it and look for something else to follow on from that.

It's not worth this level of stress for a 6 month role and if the opportunity arose for you to stay on longer it doesn't sound like you would want to anyway.

Firstly I think you need to gain strength in the fact that you are not the one with a problem. They are. Say to yourself Actually I don't give a toss about this job and the people and the organisation, they are all a bunch of wankers. Don't take any of it seriously. It's just a job and you can find a new one if it comes to it. The more you think that none of it is important and you can just walk out the door any time, you will feel empowered.

Secondly, learn to say No when others pass work over to you. Tell them they will have to do it themselves because you have z to complete and your boss has given you work to do for the ceo aswell so you have no time to take on anything extra. There is nothing they can do about it. If they have a problem with it, tell them to take it up with your boss.

Thirdly, if your boss then doesn't back you up and support you , then tell the boss the workload is not a realistic amount for someone part time to complete and so you are unhappy and will be looking for a new job. Call the boss's bluff. You have nothing to lose if you are that unhappy there. No-one there deserves any loyalty from you as they have shown they don't give a shit about you. Unpleasant bunch of twats!

Good luck with it all OP. Don't let the bastards stress you out and grind you down x