Is this normal for a graduate job?

[isthisnormal4]

hi. just looking for a bit of perspective and an outside opinion to this all.

im in a graduate training position, similar to being an FY1 DR or NQ teacher.

im working all the hours under the sun (not really but it feels like that!) usually doing 4 in 1 off 5 in 1 off, that sort of pattern. I work for 9 hours but then when I go home I have to do further studying (usually for at least 3-4 hours a night). On top of travelling, commuting and everything else,I’m exhausted. I barely have time to eat my lunch because I get given so many tasks to do (yes, I know I could insist on taking my lunch as it’s a right but ive just got so much to do and my supervisor won’t be impressed when later on I’ve got work built up) I’ve just got so, so much to do and I’m struggling to cope with it all. I just worry 24/7 now. Ive got so much work to finish and study when I get in at night and I hardly have an appetite because I’m so stressed and I’ve lost almost a stone in 2 months with it all

the icing on the cake was when I fainted at work alone in my office (just mine) and hit my head off a desk. Nobody realised and I simply came to and drank some lucozade but I was so upset about it all. I know I fainted because I hadn’t eaten because I’d been working so much

I just feel so lonely. I annoy everyone, get everything wrong, if I ask for help I’m apparently not even trying and I’m expecting my supervisor to do everything for me but if I don’t ask for help and I try to use my initiative I end up getting it wrong every single time. I keep forgetting small things because I’m so stressed and have so much on my plate but then I get in more trouble for forgetting things. I’m not suicidal at all, nor am I depressed, but I just keep thinking how much happier they would be without me there bothering them so much and getting everything wrong

if anyone has ever watched ‘this is going to hurt’ Im exactly like shruti at work (apart from she was suicidal and I’m not)

the thing is, I know this is all part and parcel with a new graduate job. I know others have done similar (I’ve seen posts on here saying it’s just sort the way it is when you start a professional career) so i probably just need to toughen up and stop being such a baby about it all but it’s so difficult, I never thought I would miss 3 of years of uni but I do!

I just don’t know what to do :( please can any fellow grad job workers tell me, does it get better/easier to cope with it all? x

No, this isn’t normal OP. You don’t sound like you are being well mentored or supervised at all. I am very concerned that you let yourself get to the point of fainting because you’re overworked and not eating properly. I think you need to talk to someone before you make yourself really very poorly. Do you have a buddy, mentor, someone in HR in charge of the new grads? Please speak up before this escalates further.

This is absolutely not normal - you should have proper supervision for a start. My first graduate job also involved evening/ weekend study so I know how tough that is, but at least during the day I had adequate supervision and training.

I don’t have a specific person in HR for new grads but I could probably speak to my supervisor directly- they are actually very nice so I could probably speak and explain how I’ve been feeling with them (I’m just glad I posted in the first place so I know before I speak to them that my experience isn’t normal as previously I was unsure and didn’t want to complain as I thought this was all normal IYSWIM)

I’ve never been so miserable, I’m just tired and stressed all the time and fainting was just the icing on the cake. Waking up by myself on the floor with a bumped head was pretty unpleasant and I’ve never been a fainter before so I know it’s due to work and never getting time to have a proper break!

HR here, no, this is not normal.

You should have a structured of tasks that are expected of you and be given full and clear guidelines on how to do them. If you haven't been and are just muddling through what else can you do other than ask for help or make mistakes!

Advice would be to proactively schedule, not request, a meeting with your supervisor. Let them know that you recognise your performance isn't where either of you would like it to be. How distressing this is for you and you want to reset.

This is what they're there for. You should go in to the meeting with specific things that have been asked of you that you know you haven't done correctly and are still unsure of. Also have examples of where things you haven't done correctly in the past that you've now got a handle on if you get any push back that you're not trying etc. Keep things factual not emotional and keep reiterating how much you want to do better and that is what you're seeking their support for. Go for minimum weekly catch ups like these to talk about what is going well / not so well. Aim to leave the meetings with a detailed action plan of what you need to do, information on how to do it and where you can get this. The next meeting should open with the details you agreed from the last meeting and what specifically has been done and what is outstanding and so on for the next.

If after 2/3 meetings things are still not improving and you still feel overwhelmed and not supported then you either go to their manager or HR with the whole thing, what you tried to do, how you tried to address the situation (again factual) and ask for their help and support.

Good luck OP

My ds has just started a graduate job and it is not like this AT ALL and he still comes home and falls asleep from tiredness everyday (after eating my cooking). So sorry you are going through this. It does not sound like a supported well structured and healthy environment at all. Please pay attention to everything @Bucksmamma has said. Wishing you luck!

When I started out many many moons ago and worked for a dodgy small company I was treated just like you. But it's not a normal way to treat employees

What industry is it?

Some companies have a really bad reputation for how they treat graduates.

Are you in a helping profession?