Job reality vs. job description

Hooray Beer! · Post by **Hooray Beer!** » April 30, 2008 10:55 am

So I have a bit of an issue and I need the expert wisdom of my fellow BNers

I took a new job in January, and when I was interviewing I had the job described to me one way, and was totally excited for it and couldn't wait to start.

Now three months down the line, I'm not doing anything near what I was told, and in fact I'm not even doing anything that I had thought I was going to do.

Has anyone else ever been in this position? How did you approach the powers that be about it?

My concern is that I work for such a small, new firm, that they will pull out the old well we all have to chip in and do things outside our job description line. Which is fine. If I was even remotely doing what I was hired for.

And they don't think I'm a dolt either, I just got a promotion and a raise. So it's not that I didnt work out and they shunted me into a role instead of firing me

What say you BN?

OystersandBeer · Post by **OystersandBeer** » April 30, 2008 11:01 am

In this economy, be glad you got a job. When things start to change, then you can start looking for a change. But I'd stay put for a while.

carolinagirl · Post by **carolinagirl** » April 30, 2008 11:16 am

I would definitely say something to them. Maybe they don't realize the discrepancy between what you expected or heard and what they meant or said.

If they like you so much, they may make sure they get you into doing what you were hired for so that you will stay. If you could say, at least 50 percent (four hours) of the day, I should be doing this, they might see what you mean.

krusin1 · Post by **krusin1** » April 30, 2008 11:28 am

What if you approached them something along the lines of...

"Hey, I really appreciate the raise and promotion and want to make sure I'm meeting all your expectations. I know when I was hired, we discussed me doing mainly XXXXX, and since then, seems like I've been needing to do more YYYYYYY, instead. Am I getting done what you expect, or should I be doing more XXXXX instead of YYYYY?"

Just my two cents...

OystersandBeer · Post by **OystersandBeer** » April 30, 2008 9:48 pm

krusin1 wrote:What if you approached them something along the lines of...

"Hey, I really appreciate the raise and promotion and want to make sure I'm meeting all your expectations. I know when I was hired, we discussed me doing mainly XXXXX, and since then, seems like I've been needing to do more YYYYYYY, instead. Am I getting done what you expect, or should I be doing more XXXXX instead of YYYYY?"

Just my two cents...

I'd be a tad bit more specific with what x and y are/ is? That could confuse people, especially if they don't know what you are supposed to be doing in the first place.

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » April 30, 2008 10:04 pm

I may be alone here.. but I would bide my time.
Wait until my next review and mention it.. no puch no shove..
see what happens.. If no results??
I fade away ..

that is if I do not like what I am doing at the time..
If I like it.. I stay quiet and carry on

just me..

ph4ever · Post by **ph4ever** » April 30, 2008 10:45 pm

ragtopW wrote:I may be alone here.. but I would bide my time.
Wait until my next review and mention it.. no puch no shove..
see what happens.. If no results??
I fade away ..

that is if I do not like what I am doing at the time..
If I like it.. I stay quiet and carry on

just me..

I have to agree with Wayne - besides in small start up companies you should always expect that things are going to change, and fast. I think if you look at your job description with special x-ray glasses you'll see the fine print of "and anything else we throw at you"

Skibo · Post by **Skibo** » April 30, 2008 10:50 pm

ragtopW wrote:I may be alone here.. but I would bide my time.
Wait until my next review and mention it.. no puch no shove..
see what happens.. If no results??
I fade away ..

that is if I do not like what I am doing at the time..
If I like it.. I stay quiet and carry on

just me..

Agreed, unless they are asking you do to much more than originally hired to do. When working for a 'startup' one must be flexible.

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » April 30, 2008 11:21 pm

ph4ever wrote:
ragtopW wrote:I may be alone here.. but I would bide my time.
Wait until my next review and mention it.. no puch no shove..
see what happens.. If no results??
I fade away ..

that is if I do not like what I am doing at the time..
If I like it.. I stay quiet and carry on

just me..

I have to agree with Wayne - besides in small start up companies you should always expect that things are going to change, and fast. I think if you look at your job description with special x-ray glasses you'll see the fine print of "and anything else we throw at you"

that and the fact that I don't like confrontations..
I would ask a question or two..
then if not happy with what I was doing or
how I was being treated.. I go a job huntin'

ph4ever · Post by **ph4ever** » April 30, 2008 11:32 pm

ragtopW wrote:
ph4ever wrote:
ragtopW wrote:I may be alone here.. but I would bide my time.
Wait until my next review and mention it.. no puch no shove..
see what happens.. If no results??
I fade away ..

that is if I do not like what I am doing at the time..
If I like it.. I stay quiet and carry on

just me..

I have to agree with Wayne - besides in small start up companies you should always expect that things are going to change, and fast. I think if you look at your job description with special x-ray glasses you'll see the fine print of "and anything else we throw at you"

that and the fact that I don't like confrontations..
I would ask a question or two..
then if not happy with what I was doing or
how I was being treated.. I go a job huntin'

isn't it funny how we change as we age??

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » April 30, 2008 11:40 pm

ph4ever wrote:
ragtopW wrote:
ph4ever wrote:
ragtopW wrote:I may be alone here.. but I would bide my time.
Wait until my next review and mention it.. no puch no shove..
see what happens.. If no results??
I fade away ..

that is if I do not like what I am doing at the time..
If I like it.. I stay quiet and carry on

just me..

I have to agree with Wayne - besides in small start up companies you should always expect that things are going to change, and fast. I think if you look at your job description with special x-ray glasses you'll see the fine print of "and anything else we throw at you"

that and the fact that I don't like confrontations..
I would ask a question or two..
then if not happy with what I was doing or
how I was being treated.. I go a job huntin'

isn't it funny how we change as we age??

right..
I just feel that some things are not worth the energy
to argue about..
if they lie to me.. no need to tell them them lied.. I just leave..

and tell everyone else they lied..

ph4ever · Post by **ph4ever** » April 30, 2008 11:41 pm

ragtopW wrote:
ph4ever wrote:
ragtopW wrote:
ph4ever wrote:
ragtopW wrote:I may be alone here.. but I would bide my time.
Wait until my next review and mention it.. no puch no shove..
see what happens.. If no results??
I fade away ..

that is if I do not like what I am doing at the time..
If I like it.. I stay quiet and carry on

just me..

I have to agree with Wayne - besides in small start up companies you should always expect that things are going to change, and fast. I think if you look at your job description with special x-ray glasses you'll see the fine print of "and anything else we throw at you"

that and the fact that I don't like confrontations..
I would ask a question or two..
then if not happy with what I was doing or
how I was being treated.. I go a job huntin'

isn't it funny how we change as we age??
right..
I just feel that some things are not worth the energy
to argue about..
if they lie to me.. no need to tell them them lied.. I just leave..

and tell everyone else they lied..

(((((Wayne))))) I'll bring you more beer next time I come to Boise

FunkHouse9 · Post by **FunkHouse9** » May 1, 2008 11:34 am

Do you have a written job description or is it just based on the conversation at the interview? Were you ever doing what you thought you would be?

No boss wants to hear the "it's not my job" line and the others are right that being in a start-up place, things are going to be assigned as needed. However, if you're way off from what you were hired to do and you want that experience to build your workplace value for now and down the road, then you owe it to yourself to try to get things on track.

How to approach that? That depends on your relationship with your boss.

nutmeg · Post by **nutmeg** » May 1, 2008 12:07 pm

I guess it would depend on whether you think they purposely misled you to get you on board and switched to other stuff once they had you...or if you think that they genuinely thought that they would have you doing what they hired you for but the company hasn't advanced enough to get there yet.

Not knowing the real situation it's kinda hard to advise. But you prolly have a feel for if you've been had.....or if they are still building to what they wanna be.

In my corporate life I was "misled" more than a few times. One time I was interviewed by the new "boss" and after I took the position, he was nowhere to be seen. I was assigned to someone that no one EVER would have volunteered to work for. (However, that boss provided me with the best stories ever...no once would believe the stuff she pulled

)

Our personnel dept. totally let me be blind sided by that one. They knew perfectly well that the person interviewing and listed as the new supervisor was not going to be the supervisor and they knew if they had the real supervisor interview that no one would sign for the job. I actually ended up staying for a few years. (Her boss threw special recognition/cash awards at me in order to get me to stay and put up with her.

)

My situation was different though....I needed to stay within the same company (pretty much the only game in town here) and they had rules about how long you had to stick to a job before signing for another one.

Until I got old....I pretty much took whatever they threw at me. I was always afraid to make waves. Amazingly enough when I finally got an attitude in the last five or so years I worked there I got a lot more respect.

Of course that may be because I threw over the corporate office and moved to one of our manufacturing divisions....there I was treated as a team member rather than someone put there to do stuff for you.

hmmmm....what was the question??? Sorry about the autobiography

~ Parrot Bay ~ · Post by **~ Parrot Bay ~** » May 1, 2008 1:38 pm

Another wearer of many hats.....

The Lost Manatee · Post by **The Lost Manatee** » May 1, 2008 1:53 pm

When I took my present position a number of things were promised that after a year have not come to pass. The person who made these promises is no longer with the company. I have been very vocal about two of the items promised because they were both equipment that would improve productivity by at least 30% and have a relatively low cost.

My annual review is in two weeks and I plan on bringing it up, again! If I don't get what was promised, I will start to look around for another job.

Having worked with two start ups I have to say that everyone learns to do many different things and some are not things that you know how to do and in some cases, want to do but that is the risk of working at a start up. It can also be the joy of working there because you may discover that you have a talent and a passion for something that you didn't realize prior to that job.