Weird job situation.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I recently got a new part-time job as an assistant for an IT Department. I’m a little overqualified since I have a Comp Sci degree, but at the moment I’m more interested in getting some work in my hometown and perhaps opening the door for some future opportunities. The job description made it seem like I’d be doing mostly administrative stuff – filing, scheduling, a little web maintenance, etc. The new boss made it clear to me that things were a little hectic since the department was in the process of reorganizing.

Sounds good so far. The boss seemed nice enough, although quite distracted and busy. He doesn’t return calls and it’s a little hard to get ahold of him. I also get the impression that he may be a little passive-agressive. He doesn’t just tell you things flat out. More on that in a minute.

The main problem with this job is that, after almost two weeks, I still have not been given anything to do. I have not been given a computer or a desk either, and these things keep getting put off. I remind him of this stuff occasionally (I’m alway nice about it) but he always gives some vague excuse about things being busy, etc.

I’ve been basically left up to my own devices. The first day he told me to just make myself at home, learn as much as I can, attend a few meetings, etc. So I did. Eventually, after a few days, this got a little old and I asked around the department for something to do. One of the tech support guys let me answer the phone for him while he was away from his desk (most of the day). The problem is, there are maybe three phonecalls for me to answer a day, so I don’t feel as if I’ve been put to good use. I’ve been helping other people out, but the department does not seem particularly busy (aside from the boss), so I can only make so much work for myself.

When I talk to the boss, he seems a little vague, and I get the feeling he may be expecting something from me, but at the same time he’s not really willing to tell me what he wants. Here’s an example:

The first day at work, he showed me an area where there would be a new filing cabinet, and explained that I’d be able to use that when helping with the department organization. He also mentioned something about me being able to pick it out.

All was fine until a week or so later when he asked me if I’d been working on the filing cabinet. I told him that I had not, perhaps a little sheepishly. A little later, after thinking it over, I asked him if he expected me to to be doing something with the filing cabinet. He just smiled and said no, that it could probably be done later.

So please give me some advice. I’m smart enough to realize that something weird is probably going on here. Actually I’m fairly certain I know what’s going on at this point, but I guess I need to hear some outside perspective on this before I jump to any conclusions.

2

Ask your boss for a comprehensive job description. Ask him to include things like workspace in addition to duties. Sign off on it, and give him a copy, while keeping one for yourself. Also, find out if you’re actually going to get paid. He may be the type to forget about little details like that.

Or just surf the 'Dope and get a paycheck.
Yeah. That’s the ticket.

3

I would take the initiative and start doing stuff the way I want to do them, and if he doesn’t like it, he can do HIS job and be a supervisor. Either that, or surf the Dope and get paid for it. :smiley:

4

Start looking for another job. This guy isn’t “busy.” He is incompetent. An incompetent boss sucks. Nothing will ever go right, and he will never have a clue.

Seriously. It will never get any better. Go with the flow or find a better position.

5

He’d need a computer and a desk first.

6

How big is the company? What is the boss’s role? Is he the owner, branch manager, what?

7

About 500 employees, mostly industrial, plus a corporate office a few miles away in the city (I’m not sure how many work there). He’s the IT Department manager. There are eight other guys in the IT department.

8

In my experience people are either good fits with these extremely random job situations, or they aren’t. When I see it work for people, they are able to appreciate the downtime while also making themselves useful. Sometimes a part-time employee just isn’t a high priority for the department. If you are the only PT person in IT, this is extra likely. Can you envisage what the department should be having you do, then start to do it? Also, as a random possibility, do you think there’s a chance you are in a holding pattern because they are about to let someone go, and will have you fill in?

No shame in realizing you are not cut out for this type of craziness, though. If you have ever taken Myers-Briggs, the people who create and thrive on this type of situation tend to be P for perceiving vs. J for judging. If you consider yourself a J, probably best to cut your losses ASAP.

9

I score an INFJ on the Internet version of that test, so I may just be the wrong person for this job. I don’t want to make any decisions just yet, but I have the feeling that it won’t be lasting long. In a way I’d like to talk to him tomorrow and get some of this off my chest, but I’m also tempted to go with the flow for a few more days and put off any confrontation. I am getting paid to do nothing after all. Many people would see this as a dream job.

I have not actually surfed the 'dope from work yet. I did ask for a spare laptop, and I was very clear that I was planning on browsing the web since I had nothing else to do, and the boss did not seem to object. Unfortunately the laptop is a spare so sometimes it’s in use. I try to keep the sites at least ostensibly work-related, so I’ve been brushing up on subjects like networking or web programming. It’s a little boring, but at least I don’t have to feel like my time is wasted.

10

Forget the boss Talk to the other 7 guys/gals in IT.

What are they doing all day?

What can you do to help them? (Really, what can you learn from them for this job or the next?)

Is it always like this? if not, when will it slow down?

Tell them candidly your situation; not your opinions/fears, just the facts. What advice can they give you?

I have been in shops as both boss & worker where the workload would have crushed 3 times that many people. So we did the fraction we could & a lot of crap fell on the floor & a lot of frenzy ensued. It wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t smart, but the bigger bosses cared more about the budget than the did about results or morale. As you might imagine, turnover in those situations gets pretty high.

11

Is there a secretary or clerical person attached to IT? They’d be more likely to know the office processes and filing systems. They could probably order the filing cabinet.

Filing is the job that everyone hates. The files are also the history of the department. Reading a few files might give you an idea what the department has done in the past. And if the files are incomplete, it gives you something to work on.

12

My first job was similar to what you describe (though I had a desk.)

After a few weeks I got reassigned to a different group (though the same job) and my new boss asked me what all thoughts I had on my job so far so I explained it to him. So he listens to me complaining that I don’t have anything to do and that no one seems to know what I should do, etc. and then he tells me that probably things will be like that with his group as well–he couldn’t think of anything that needed another guy off the top of his head either–but, telling someone to try sitting in on meetings, to read up on stuff, etc. is so that they can find the things they can do. If you listen up and just think about and understand what’s going on around you, you’ll notice a million things where you could help out. So instead of waiting for someone to tell you to do something, come up with your own job and offer to help with whatever.

Within a week of doing that I had a full 8-hour a day work load. Someone commented that the company needed an intraweb site, so I offered to make one. I noticed that the various automobile miniatures that the artists used weren’t catalogued so no one was sure what we did and didn’t have, so I offered to track them all down and take inventory. I found a whole bunch of other stuff and just kept myself busy and in everyone’s awareness and pretty soon people were coming to me with tasks they were looking for someone to do. At times I remember joking that I didn’t even know who my boss was since every miniature project I was working on was for someone entirely different and the only person watching my workload and schedule was myself.

Even once I became a more regular employee in the working world, as a programmer, the grand majority of the time my projects have ended up coming to me as the result of making proposals to my boss and then going ahead to build it.

Overall I’d say that “Keep yours ears pricked and make your own job” was probably the best advice I’ve ever gotten.

13

I do not think anybody else in the department is particularly overworked. The atmosphere is definitely laid back – almost sleepy. Plus one of the tech support guys mentioned that things were generally very slow. Yesterday a few of the guys were sitting out in the hallway talking and assembling a new office chair for quite some time. They had spent part of the previous day shopping around at Staples. I get the impression that everybody in the department is left to make their own work. Which is why the place is in need of the “reorganizing” that the boss has mentioned a few times.

So my options are:

  1. Grit my teeth, roll up my sleeves and start figuring out how I can be useful without expecting the boss to provide guidance.

  2. Go with the flow and just wait for somebody to give me something to do. Assume it’s not my problem that the company doesn’t know what to do with me.

  3. Find another job.

I’m genuinely torn. I don’t want to sound like I’m copping out, but I’m not sure I have the personality for #1. I also have no experience as an administrative assistant. The bulk of my experience relates to programming, reporting and database stuff. For whatever reason, they hired me anyway. So not only would I need to take charge and figure out how to do this reorganizing myself, but I’d have to teach myself how to be organized as well. I think the right person could turn this into a really good opportunity, but for me it feels like the burden would outweigh any possible rewards.

Waiting is probably not a good option for me, at least not much longer. It’s already starting to cause me stress. Of course I may be in a holding pattern, and it may be beneficial for me to bide my time for awhile.

Quitting will always be a possibility, of course. It’s certainly on my mind.

Regardless, I think it may be beneficial for me to talk to the boss Monday. Find out exactly what he expects. Ask for a little more guidance. If all else fails, at least I can get a better picture of what may be going on. I want to be careful not to jump to conclusions.

14

How about getting them to show you what they do and documenting it if it isn’t documented?

15

Put in a help ticket for a desk, and he’ll get back to you. But seriously, go with the instincts of the other posters here…start looking around for a REAL job. Jobs never get better after the honeymoon phase, and if that’s your honeymoon… :o

Also, you’ll grow stale in this kind of job if you stay there! And end up like…like your boss! :dubious:

16

Hey! Talk about a paperless office! Your boss has taken the concept to the max! A deskless office? Wow! :wink:

17

Where on earth were you working where there are miniature cars involved?

18

I think I’ve made up my mind. (Thanks, by the way, to those who’ve posted advice. This thread as been a useful sounding board for me).

Another position has opened at the same company – it’s full time w/benefits, and I’m actually very qualified for it. The position is for a shipping clerk, so it’s not exactly brain surgery, but as I’ve stated before, finding local work takes precedence right now over pursuing a career. I’ve been a shipping clerk before, and the job wasn’t half bad.

I’m going to ask my boss Monday if he would object to me applying to this other position. If he asks why, I will tell him, somewhat honestly, that I need the full-time salary and benefits sooner than I’d calculated, and it doesn’t appear that the IT department has a pressing need for my services at the moment.

This actually accomplishes a lot, I think. It gives me a way to notify my boss of my intentions to leave without actually needing to confront him about the true reasons. As much as I’d like to tell him what I think is wrong with his management style, I do not think it will accomplish anything. My intuition is that this guy will not react well to anything he perceives as criticism. Plus I don’t really owe him my input – this is a part-time assistant position, nothing more. Nothing I can do or say will make him into a better boss, so it’s wise and sane to cut my losses as soon as possible and extricate myself from a molehill that has the potential to become mountainous.

I think I may already have a leg up for this other position, since I’m already working at the company and I’ve gone through the screening and orientation process. I don’t see why anybody would have trouble with me applying anyway. Perhaps I could even spin my actions as a sign of loyalty to the company.

Regardless, I’m essentially quitting, but I’m going to try to do it in a roundabout way first in the hopes that I can make a positive situation out of it.

19

That sounds like a good plan. I would have taken your job and run with it, but I’ve been an administrative type for 11 years - I could run most departments I work in. You know best what’s right for you.

20

Don’t add this! Simply go with the first part. And be sure to thank him.