What a way to make a living...
Work sucks. It really does. I am so tired of being in college and having to work these little shit jobs in order to make ends meet. Seriously! Why should a 23 year old with the experience I have not be able to work in a place where my talents will be used and appreciated?
I had my job interview on Friday, and it was fine, really. Just not what I expected. First of all, I was almost late because I didn’t realize I had to take the George Bush Turnpike to get there. So, I had to pull over, get cash from an ATM, and then make change so that I could go through the tollbooths. I was freaking out, because if you’ve ever been to the Addison theatre center, it’s in the middle of this huge plaza, and the theatre itself is actually kind of nestled in…in other words, not easily seen from the plaza roads. So I finally find a place to park, and get there right on time. I’m wearing a black business suit and a creamy lace top underneath. I think I looked pretty snazzy. The guys that interviewed me, though…one was wearing jeans and a button up shirt, and at least it was tucked in with a belt. The other guy, though, was wearing jeans that were frayed at the bottom, a long sleeved thermal t-shirt, with a blue t-shirt on over it. I am feeling way overdressed by this point, but, I guess it’s better than assuming that I can dress down, and then feeling like a slob.
The interview itself was quite short. I think my resume and experience really speak for themselves because they mainly wanted to make sure that I knew what the job entailed. I thought it would be more what I do now, here at the Murchison, meaning working in the afternoons during Box Office hours, and then coming in for the evening performances. Well, I was wrong, apparently, and it’s basically only evenings (or matinees, depending on the situation). Still, it’s 10 bucks an hour. I hope they offer me the job, actually, based on what happened later that afternoon. They are supposed to make the calls on Wednesday. So, even though it’s fewer hours than I expected, and kind of a far drive, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
After the interview, I rushed back to Denton to work at this box office. My evaluation was to occur at 3:30. What do you think of when you think of a work evaluation? Here’s what I think of: a piece of paper (or more) with the basic outline of what is expected, with the employee’s performance judged by these guidelines. The employee receives the evaluation, reads it over, asks any questions he or she has, signs it and gives it back to the manager(s) who sign it, then put it in the employee’s file. Done. Right? Wrong. What happened here was NOT that way at all. It was horrible.
Basically what happened was I was trapped in the box office with the three managers (all of whom are within 2 years of my age, two of whom I consider to be my equals, but somehow they got promoted while I didn’t). There was no mediator, just the four of us. Them against me. Theory led the evaluation, while Pothead sat closely by with a clipboard. The other “manager” we’ll call Lance because he is involved in lots of cycling races. Lance is pretty quiet, and I actually knew something was going to suck about the evaluation when I walked in on Friday. Lance and I always work together on Fridays. I could tell he was uncomfortable, though, which made me really nervous about the whole situation.
So, Theory begins by complimenting me. She tells me how good I am at the job, how well I know the software (better than anyone else), how good I am at dealing with patrons, and recognizing VIP patrons as well as College of Music faculty and staff. So, I gather from these compliments that I’m good at what I do. Awesome, right? Wrong again.
Right as I’m starting to relax, the managers enter Attack Mode. I don’t even want to go into all the problems they were having with me, and they were basically all personal issues. I obviously do my job well, as I was told only moments earlier. Theory said that she feels like I tend to separate myself from the rest of the team (meaning she and Pothead and Lance). I agree with her, actually, and try to diplomatically tell her why. I tell her it’s because I don’t feel like I’m even part of the team. I’m the only one of the original team that has not been promoted. Each of the team has designated tasks. Theirs are things like: Budgeting, PR, Semester Statistics, Scheduling, User/End of Day Reports, etc. You know what mine are? Phone Messages. Maintain clean email inbox. Mailbox labels. Social Coordinator. I tell the three of them that I feel slightly insulted by this, which is probably why I’m not jumping up and down for joy while performing these tasks. I request more responsibility, and I am denied this. Fine.
Next point: apparently I’m too dramatic. The irony of this bewilders me. First they feel like I separate myself and don’t talk to anyone. Then they say I’m too dramatic? See earlier blog about their ranting and raving about the presidency. I keep my mouth SHUT at work unless spoken too directly. Turns out they are referring to the day my mom wouldn’t quit calling me here and yelling at me. I tell them I am very sorry for that, but I couldn’t stop her from calling, and I can’t exactly NOT answer the phone. Even if I hung up on her, she called back. I apologized, and just shut my mouth about it.
Next point: you’ve been leaving early. Okay, they offered to let me leave early on the nights when I had dress rehearsals and/or shows because they knew I had to have time to get dinner, warm up, and get ready for the show. I accepted. So now I’m being punished for that? WTF?
Next point: you’ve asked for more hours, but you haven’t used them. You’ve asked for up to 25 hours a week, but you haven’t been coming in that often. Okay, I have 2 jobs, and I go to school full-time. I wanted to just know those hours were there just in case I hit a couple of rough patches. I didn’t realize that, in asking for those hours, I would be bound to use them all every week. How am I getting reprimanded for this? I come in when I am scheduled, and if I can put in more hours, I do.
So, by this point, I’m upset, so I finally just say, “You know what? I am unhappy here.” And I tell them why. I tell them it’s because I feel like I’m being overlooked for duties I am fully capable of. I tell them I’m upset because projects that were my babies have been taken away from me and given to someone else. I tell them I slightly resent the fact that Lance and Pothead were promoted without question. Then Pothead angrily interjects, “Hey I worked my ass off to get this job.” Okay. Is that why she cusses in the box office when it’s obvious that patrons are at the window? Is that why, when I get to work today, there is computer wallpaper that is picture of GW Bush with a headline that says “How can 54 million people be so stupid?” Is any of this professional?? Then Theory says, “With what we have here, we could fire you…” Which says to me, “We’d rather you just quit so we don’t look like the bad guys.”
So I basically did. I told them I would be finishing out the semester here, but I will not be returning in the Spring to this job. They acted surprised! Come on! It’s quite obvious that’s what they wanted all along.
I’m not surprised at how Pothead acted, and Lance was cool the whole time. He actually said he’s gonna miss me, which was sweet of him. I am very surprised at Theory though. I thought she was a better manager than that. If you have problems with employees and you want to address it, if I were a manager I’d probably infuse positive comments along with the negative. For example: “You’re doing a great job with the database conversion, but I could use a little more effort on the End of Day reports.” Ya know? That way the negative comments don’t feel like an attack. I seriously felt like the way this evaluation was handled was completely unfair and unprofessional. It was a surprise attack on me, putting me in the hot seat and almost forced to quit. I know, quitting is my own option, and I made that decision. However…they sure did make the situation so that I wouldn’t even want to return.
I had my job interview on Friday, and it was fine, really. Just not what I expected. First of all, I was almost late because I didn’t realize I had to take the George Bush Turnpike to get there. So, I had to pull over, get cash from an ATM, and then make change so that I could go through the tollbooths. I was freaking out, because if you’ve ever been to the Addison theatre center, it’s in the middle of this huge plaza, and the theatre itself is actually kind of nestled in…in other words, not easily seen from the plaza roads. So I finally find a place to park, and get there right on time. I’m wearing a black business suit and a creamy lace top underneath. I think I looked pretty snazzy. The guys that interviewed me, though…one was wearing jeans and a button up shirt, and at least it was tucked in with a belt. The other guy, though, was wearing jeans that were frayed at the bottom, a long sleeved thermal t-shirt, with a blue t-shirt on over it. I am feeling way overdressed by this point, but, I guess it’s better than assuming that I can dress down, and then feeling like a slob.
The interview itself was quite short. I think my resume and experience really speak for themselves because they mainly wanted to make sure that I knew what the job entailed. I thought it would be more what I do now, here at the Murchison, meaning working in the afternoons during Box Office hours, and then coming in for the evening performances. Well, I was wrong, apparently, and it’s basically only evenings (or matinees, depending on the situation). Still, it’s 10 bucks an hour. I hope they offer me the job, actually, based on what happened later that afternoon. They are supposed to make the calls on Wednesday. So, even though it’s fewer hours than I expected, and kind of a far drive, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
After the interview, I rushed back to Denton to work at this box office. My evaluation was to occur at 3:30. What do you think of when you think of a work evaluation? Here’s what I think of: a piece of paper (or more) with the basic outline of what is expected, with the employee’s performance judged by these guidelines. The employee receives the evaluation, reads it over, asks any questions he or she has, signs it and gives it back to the manager(s) who sign it, then put it in the employee’s file. Done. Right? Wrong. What happened here was NOT that way at all. It was horrible.
Basically what happened was I was trapped in the box office with the three managers (all of whom are within 2 years of my age, two of whom I consider to be my equals, but somehow they got promoted while I didn’t). There was no mediator, just the four of us. Them against me. Theory led the evaluation, while Pothead sat closely by with a clipboard. The other “manager” we’ll call Lance because he is involved in lots of cycling races. Lance is pretty quiet, and I actually knew something was going to suck about the evaluation when I walked in on Friday. Lance and I always work together on Fridays. I could tell he was uncomfortable, though, which made me really nervous about the whole situation.
So, Theory begins by complimenting me. She tells me how good I am at the job, how well I know the software (better than anyone else), how good I am at dealing with patrons, and recognizing VIP patrons as well as College of Music faculty and staff. So, I gather from these compliments that I’m good at what I do. Awesome, right? Wrong again.
Right as I’m starting to relax, the managers enter Attack Mode. I don’t even want to go into all the problems they were having with me, and they were basically all personal issues. I obviously do my job well, as I was told only moments earlier. Theory said that she feels like I tend to separate myself from the rest of the team (meaning she and Pothead and Lance). I agree with her, actually, and try to diplomatically tell her why. I tell her it’s because I don’t feel like I’m even part of the team. I’m the only one of the original team that has not been promoted. Each of the team has designated tasks. Theirs are things like: Budgeting, PR, Semester Statistics, Scheduling, User/End of Day Reports, etc. You know what mine are? Phone Messages. Maintain clean email inbox. Mailbox labels. Social Coordinator. I tell the three of them that I feel slightly insulted by this, which is probably why I’m not jumping up and down for joy while performing these tasks. I request more responsibility, and I am denied this. Fine.
Next point: apparently I’m too dramatic. The irony of this bewilders me. First they feel like I separate myself and don’t talk to anyone. Then they say I’m too dramatic? See earlier blog about their ranting and raving about the presidency. I keep my mouth SHUT at work unless spoken too directly. Turns out they are referring to the day my mom wouldn’t quit calling me here and yelling at me. I tell them I am very sorry for that, but I couldn’t stop her from calling, and I can’t exactly NOT answer the phone. Even if I hung up on her, she called back. I apologized, and just shut my mouth about it.
Next point: you’ve been leaving early. Okay, they offered to let me leave early on the nights when I had dress rehearsals and/or shows because they knew I had to have time to get dinner, warm up, and get ready for the show. I accepted. So now I’m being punished for that? WTF?
Next point: you’ve asked for more hours, but you haven’t used them. You’ve asked for up to 25 hours a week, but you haven’t been coming in that often. Okay, I have 2 jobs, and I go to school full-time. I wanted to just know those hours were there just in case I hit a couple of rough patches. I didn’t realize that, in asking for those hours, I would be bound to use them all every week. How am I getting reprimanded for this? I come in when I am scheduled, and if I can put in more hours, I do.
So, by this point, I’m upset, so I finally just say, “You know what? I am unhappy here.” And I tell them why. I tell them it’s because I feel like I’m being overlooked for duties I am fully capable of. I tell them I’m upset because projects that were my babies have been taken away from me and given to someone else. I tell them I slightly resent the fact that Lance and Pothead were promoted without question. Then Pothead angrily interjects, “Hey I worked my ass off to get this job.” Okay. Is that why she cusses in the box office when it’s obvious that patrons are at the window? Is that why, when I get to work today, there is computer wallpaper that is picture of GW Bush with a headline that says “How can 54 million people be so stupid?” Is any of this professional?? Then Theory says, “With what we have here, we could fire you…” Which says to me, “We’d rather you just quit so we don’t look like the bad guys.”
So I basically did. I told them I would be finishing out the semester here, but I will not be returning in the Spring to this job. They acted surprised! Come on! It’s quite obvious that’s what they wanted all along.
I’m not surprised at how Pothead acted, and Lance was cool the whole time. He actually said he’s gonna miss me, which was sweet of him. I am very surprised at Theory though. I thought she was a better manager than that. If you have problems with employees and you want to address it, if I were a manager I’d probably infuse positive comments along with the negative. For example: “You’re doing a great job with the database conversion, but I could use a little more effort on the End of Day reports.” Ya know? That way the negative comments don’t feel like an attack. I seriously felt like the way this evaluation was handled was completely unfair and unprofessional. It was a surprise attack on me, putting me in the hot seat and almost forced to quit. I know, quitting is my own option, and I made that decision. However…they sure did make the situation so that I wouldn’t even want to return.
posted by Sassy at 3:02 PM
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