New Job.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Hello all,

As the title says, I’ve got a new job, and I’m feeling alone. Alone doesn’t really cut it - I feel stupid. I haven’t been there long, and the job itself isn’t hard - it’s an admin assistant in a department store - but the supervisor’s gone on holiday; the store manager has left; and the two other people in the office are leaving/rather clique, and therefore a bit unconcerned when it comes to helping me out.

It’s not like the job is hard - as I’ve already said. I just keep making stupid mistakes: ringing things through incorrectly, putting forms in the wrong place, being a scatterbrain. Actually, I accidently rung through a gazzilion pounds through the till - something my colleague smiled about, gleefully.

It’s cool. It’s just, the staff are loving the fact I’m new; there’s no supervisor; mistakes are being made; and the drama of me making mistakes is a hot topic.

-Today, I answered the phone with a: ‘Hello…(while I finish what I’m doing for 3 seconds) X speaking. How can I help you’; not a: ‘Hello. X speaking. How can I help you?’.

  • My colleague’s jaw dropped. ‘You know, if that was the owner, you’d be fired on the spot’ she told me, with music blaring out of her phone, after I’d finished the conversation.

…I’ve been out of work for a while. This job is a major break through. Unemployment is absolutely awful, but it takes a while to get into a working rhythm, and - perhaps - I’m finding the adjustment harder than I should?

I feel stupid. feel like the new, unpopular kid in secondary school. It sucks. They think I’m weird and scatterbrained, and it’s humiliating. All in all, it sucks monkey cock, but - hey- I’m employed, which is a damn sight that better than unemployment.

…In addition to all that, I happened to mention that I’d been to university. And that I’m 27. - I think, my great age (even though the supervisor is 46; the two, remaining office folk, are in their early 20s and see me as borderline geriatric) and my stupid education, have led them to dislike me even more.

When the supervisor returns, things will be better, right?

I feel like such a loser. -Unable to do a simple job, in tonnes of debt through university, and unable to concentrate/study when I get home after work.

Help. Advice?

2

Welcome to the SDMB, and congratulations on your new job.:slight_smile:

Advice? Here’s a bit. Trust your employers’ judgement. Out of all the applicants they looked at, they chose to hire you. So if you trust that they know what they’re doing, you should be able to conclude that you’ll find your sea legs just fine.

Oh, and also, congratulations on now being eligible to join in this thread. Just don’t try to read it in one sitting, okay? :smiley:

3

Thank you :slight_smile:

4

Don’t worry about the co-workers’ nasty comments - could be for any number of reasons.

Maybe they resent you getting the job - perhaps the other person you are replacing was a close friend? Or perhaps they are pissed their cousin/sister/best friend was not hired instead of you?

Don’t take it personal…

And yeah - once the others are back, you can ask about the “little stuff” and get some more hands on training.

First days at jobs generally suck…don’t sweat it.

5

Years ago, when I was starting a new job and having some difficulty, someone gave me some excellent advice: Give yourself permission to make 576 mistakes (it can be any number, just pick a ridiculously large one). Everyone is going to make mistakes on a new job. So when you do, just say, “That’s one, only 575 to go,” etc. It really helped me to put things in perspective and relax a little. Once you relax, you’ll settle into your work routine and stop making stupid mistakes.

Congratulations on the job!