true life: I hate my new job

[amkxoxo]

So I graduated college earlier this year and got a bachelors degree. I spent all summer job hunting until I got an offer from my university. The job was similar to what I did in college but not totally the same. I figured I could do it decently. I just finished the job on day two and I don't like it. I had to relocate about two hours from my family for this and I am so unhappy. I sit in an office 9-5 which I thought I would enjoy but I don't. Everyone who works there is so nice so that isn't an issue. We all have open cubicles except our one big boss who has an office. I am so confused about what they want me to do and maybe they are just easing me into things but I am bored out of my mind. I sit most of the time pretending to read my computer and do stuff when I am daydreaming. They seem to be doing fine without me doing anything. I don't understand what the guy before me even did. He left me daily instructions but most of the stuff seems tedious and can be done quickly. One of the things I could do in one day and its done for the week. I am shy so I have a hard time going up and asking for work to do. I've asked other employees if I can help them which is apart of my job description but they decline me. I told the big boss if he has anything for me to do to tell me but he has yet to do it. I'm so bored. I'm so unhappy. They are paying me a ton and I get salary so not even an hourly pay which is unheard of for entry level. My mom thinks i need to give it more time. I will because I've never been a quitter. I just feel stupid and confused and I feel like they think I am just sitting doing nothing as well. But they seem so nice though so I'm thinking they think I am doing stuff.

 

I also feel like this whole thing is more personal. I kind of feel like my soul inside is dying a little. I am so upbeat and artsy. I love music and dance and movies. Sitting in an office all day everyday is killing me inside. I feel like my work has no meaning. I feel so alone. I live with a roommate but he isn't here a lot. So I'm by myself. I have friends down here but I don't have a lot of time to see them and I am tired from working. I like being busy and showing my work off and having to go and do stuff sometimes out of an office. I love going to the gym but I'm so tired and don't have a lot of time so I barely go. I get home eat sinner and watch TV and then go to bed and wake up and go to work. My life has little meaning to it. I used to work in a clothing store part time. I almost miss that. It was a stupid college job but I liked clothes and talking to people and moving around and everyday was kind of different. With my new job I am the youngest one there. They are all my parents age. I look arouns at the students walking around the campus I went to and I wish I was out there with them. I love clothes. I love dressing up. But I even find myself uncomfortable with business clothes. I can't wait to run home and out on jeans and a t shirt. I never thought that would be me, but it is.

 

I don't know what to do. I'm not a quitter and I desperately need the money or experience. Its easy to say "yeah I will just stay for 3 years and then get something better" but I think about every long long day and I don't know if I can do it. I miss my family. When I was at home with them post grad I was itching to get out but now I would love to go back. I don't want you all to think I'm spoiled or anything. I cook clean and do laundry for myself. I am responsible and smart. I don't know what to do. I'm dreading going to work tomorrow.

[pink_sugar]

I get home eat sinner and watch TV and then go to bed and wake up and go to work. My life has little meaning to it. I used to work in a clothing store part time. I almost miss that. It was a stupid college job but I liked clothes and talking to people and moving around and everyday was kind of different. With my new job I am the youngest one there. They are all my parents age. I look arouns at the students walking around the campus I went to and I wish I was out there with them. I love clothes. I love dressing up. But I even find myself uncomfortable with business clothes. I can't wait to run home and out on jeans and a t shirt. I never thought that would be me, but it is.

 

I don't know what to do. I'm not a quitter and I desperately need the money or experience. Its easy to say "yeah I will just stay for 3 years and then get something better" but I think about every long long day and I don't know if I can do it. I miss my family. When I was at home with them post grad I was itching to get out but now I would love to go back. I don't want you all to think I'm spoiled or anything. I cook clean and do laundry for myself. I am responsible and smart. I don't know what to do. I'm dreading going to work tomorrow.

 

It doesn't really sound like there is anything wrong with the job itself other than it's not keeping you occupied and you're bored to death. I've had jobs like that. You need to find something to keep you motivated and busy. This probably isn't the right job for you. As for the "work, go home, eat dinner, watch TV and go to bed"...well that's the reality of adulthood unless you're working overtime or a high paid executive that travels all the time. I think you're having a hard time transitioning and I've been there. I miss when my husband and I went to college together, got to sleep in all the time when we didn't work and just did what we wanted. It's not that way anymore, but positive changes are coming. Most of the fun stuff I do on my days off as I'm just too tired after work to go out and do anything.

Edited November 13, 2014 by pink_sugar

[jonsnuh]

I had the benefit of working co-op jobs when I was in school as part of my work-study program. Boy, was I bored. But I kept asking for more work and my employers gave me more when I did everything they asked and did it exceptionally well. All I got was grunt work and stuff that was monotonous, but hey... someone in the firm had to do it.

 

Prove to the employers that you are ready for more by mastering what you have. Patience is the key. I'm cheering for you!

[Lernaean_Hydra]

My last job was a lot like this and I absolutely hated it. It was so tedious it was almost painful. There was never anything to do but this was sort of an open secret. Everyone knew there was nothing to do and well each knew the others were pretending to do any actual work. I didn't actually need the money so I quit but had that not been the case, I would've still been there.

 

I like art and music and dancing too. I also love theme parks and night time strolls on the beach, but that's what weekends and off days are for. I can't expect to base my career around that.

 

The thing you have to understand is, very few people are fortunate enough to end up in a job they actually love or that involves things they love doing. Especially at your age and level of experience. That's just life. A lot of work is monotonous, as are many things we as people have to do to survive but we do them anyway and we make the most of our free time instead.

 

I think this transition is a little rougher for you because you've gone from flighty, short term part-time jobs to what sounds like a job more appropriate for a 40-something. It sucks and I get it but honestly, this is what adulthood looks like. You just have to adjust or look for something else. You'll note I said "something else" and not 'better' because that's certainly not guaranteed.

[Els]

Sorry to hear that, OP. Honestly, I've never understood the purpose of lumping everyone together in an office 9-5 to do work that can be done on a computer - that seems to me like a relic of the pre-internet era where you had to be physically there to do work. I get that being there is still necessary for some types of jobs, but in the case of many office workers, it seems like working from home could achieve equally good results if it were allowed (and if someone isn't performing, there are always other people waiting to take their place).

 

Ahem. Rant aside....

 

OP, have you tried looking for other jobs on the side while still working there? You don't necessarily need to attend interviews or anything yet, just see what is out there and keep on top of things. I think you should give this job some more time, but it couldn't hurt to broaden your knowledge of the jobs available and what you need to get your dream one(s).

 

Also, the lack of meaningful human interaction stands out at me. What do you do on your weekends? Do you think if you made the effort to spend more time with friends on weekends, you might be less homesick?

 

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone in hating the 9-5 grind. It's something I will fight against to my last breath (okay, not really, if I really had no choice I'd do it, but I'll go down fighting). It matters enough to me that even though I'm in a field where I could make LOTS of money if I was willing to be a corporate drone for 5-10 years, I take a much smaller paycheck just because what I'm doing allows me to work on my own time and is intellectually engaging. If it matters that much to you as well (and you have to find out if it does), do whatever it takes to find something that you love. It will likely take heaps of effort and sacrifice, though.

Edited November 14, 2014 by Elswyth

[pink_sugar]

Sorry to hear that, OP. Honestly, I've never understood the purpose of lumping everyone together in an office 9-5 to do work that can be done on a computer - that seems to me like a relic of the pre-internet era where you had to be physically there to do work. I get that being there is still necessary for some types of jobs, but in the case of many office workers, it seems like working from home could achieve equally good results if it were allowed (and if someone isn't performing, there are always other people waiting to take their place).

 

Ahem. Rant aside....

 

OP, have you tried looking for other jobs on the side while still working there? You don't necessarily need to attend interviews or anything yet, just see what is out there and keep on top of things. I think you should give this job some more time, but it couldn't hurt to broaden your knowledge of the jobs available and what you need to get your dream one(s).

 

Also, the lack of meaningful human interaction stands out at me. What do you do on your weekends? Do you think if you made the effort to spend more time with friends on weekends, you might be less homesick?

 

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone in hating the 9-5 grind. It's something I will fight against to my last breath (okay, not really, if I really had no choice I'd do it, but I'll go down fighting). It matters enough to me that even though I'm in a field where I could make LOTS of money if I was willing to be a corporate drone for 5-10 years, I take a much smaller paycheck just because what I'm doing allows me to work on my own time and is intellectually engaging. If it matters that much to you as well (and you have to find out if it does), do whatever it takes to find something that you love. It will likely take heaps of effort and sacrifice, though.

 

I second this. A lot of the people in my office work remote a few days a week and I know I could do that as well, but I don't have my own place at the moment, so it's not feasible. Hopefully in January.

[jellybean89]

It has been 2 days! I think you are being a little ridiculous. TWO DAYS. Most companies give new employees a week or two to get their bearings and then gradually get them involved in more things. Since I have no idea what it is you do, I can't comment on that.

 

If you are supposed to be reading things on the computer, do it. Look through old files, get yourself acclimated to what the company does. Talk to others about their roles in the company.

 

You are too tired after a 9 to 5 job that you can't go to the gym? A job you say you are bored stiff at? What is making you so tired?

 

If you really don't think you can continue, then quit. Give them the opportunity to find someone else who would be grateful to have a job. I just don't understand how you can even truly judge a job/company after 2 days. Maybe they will realize you aren't doing anything and will assign you additional work? I don't think it was a smart move to go to the big boss and basically announce that you are bored and want additional work - after only 2 days. I could see you doing that after a couple months, but not a couple of days.

 

My advise would be to stop complaining and be happy you have a job. There are a ton of people who would be thrilled to be in your shoes (to have a job that pays decently).

[avintagegirl]

I 100% understand where you are coming from. I was just like you when I started at my university last Feb. I would do the small amounts of work and then I would be twiddling my thumbs until something else came along.

 

Im glad your co-workers are nice - that can be rare!! I am going to give you the best advice I can. Stick it out. It will get better. Give it a couple of weeks. If after next week - an eternity I know - you are still bored out of your skull go to your boss and say that. Just tell him "Ive finished xy and z and I was just wondering if there was anything else I can be doing?"

 

You called this place "my university", is it where you went to school?

 

When I started at my university, before my to dos got to be a mile long, I would troll the websites of the various departments - especially my own. I would find out what is going on at the university that day. I also looked around for listservs to join to see what people in my field are talking about.

 

I would also try and get out at lunch and talk to the people in the staff room if they looked friendly. I know you said you are shy, I am too. However, I found out that 9 times out of 10 if you say Hi Im a vintagegirl, how are you? I am fine thanks. I just started here and this is my first week month day etc. After that people were usually nice and open. You never know, these people may inspire you to find another way for your department to communicate with theirs.

 

Best of luck to you!!

[michellew]

It has been 2 days! I think you are being a little ridiculous. TWO DAYS. Most companies give new employees a week or two to get their bearings and then gradually get them involved in more things. Since I have no idea what it is you do, I can't comment on that.

 

If you are supposed to be reading things on the computer, do it. Look through old files, get yourself acclimated to what the company does. Talk to others about their roles in the company.

 

You are too tired after a 9 to 5 job that you can't go to the gym? A job you say you are bored stiff at? What is making you so tired?

 

If you really don't think you can continue, then quit. Give them the opportunity to find someone else who would be grateful to have a job. I just don't understand how you can even truly judge a job/company after 2 days. Maybe they will realize you aren't doing anything and will assign you additional work? I don't think it was a smart move to go to the big boss and basically announce that you are bored and want additional work - after only 2 days. I could see you doing that after a couple months, but not a couple of days.

 

My advise would be to stop complaining and be happy you have a job. There are a ton of people who would be thrilled to be in your shoes (to have a job that pays decently).

 

My thoughts exactly, but perhaps I would phrase a little more gently. Lol.

 

OP, most companies start people off with very little and give them a window of time to get situated. I have been in your shoes and all I can say is be careful what you wish for! If you are good, your little jobs will soon turn into bigger ones and more of them. Take some initiative and do things that's aren't asked of you.

 

With all of this free time, there's got to be someway to incorporate your creative side into the office or your projects?? I'm also thinking you're more homesick than anything which makes the job seem 10x worse than it

Actually is.

 

Give it some time OP and keep us posted.

[Banker Chick]

I feel your pain. I've had both situations ... one time I worked at a job and I knew right away it just wasn't for me. Maybe it was a product of other things going on in my life at the time, who knows, but I gave it several weeks and I never warmed to it so I ended up moving on. That was an exception though as other jobs I've had that I didn't immediately feel a connection I stuck it out and ended up staying for years and liking the job and co-workers.

 

 

Like others said, it's almost always difficult starting a new job because 1) you're training, 2) you don't know anyone and 3) you're feeling your way around the company culture. I've had new jobs where the person doing the job had already left or it was a newly created position so I was bombarded with work right away. I've also had new jobs where they didn't want to load me up or someone didn't have a lot of time to show me stuff so I experienced a good amount of downtime. Boredom is one of the biggest contributors to job dissatisfaction I feel so once I got more work or learned more about what I was doing, that dissatisfaction lessened. I also felt better the longer I was there and got to know my way around the place and the people.

 

 

I agree that you should get to know your co-workers and see if you can pick up some additional duties. Try to give it a little more time. It's a new experience and like any other type of change, it's understandable you'd feel a little "homesick" and miss how things used to be.

[amkxoxo]

I have good news. Day three I finally got an assignment. It was quick but I finished it. I think I did well. My boss said I had two days but I finished in a matter of hours. I also didn't have time to finish another assignment. I have been trying to observe and gain feedback of my own accord. They give me a lot of details about an assignment but very little on how to go about it. My job contains a lot of interruptions. So in the middle of an assignment others will ask me for help. They don't really give me a ton of direction on how to handle that. Do I stick to my work or help a lot and forgo what I am doing. I'm trying to figure it out. I talked to my parents. My father thinks they are giving me a lot of time to adjust and then the big boss is going to just dump a bunch of work onto me. I think he wants me to handle more of his work because he is overloaded.

[Allumere]

I'm still scratching my head on the tired part....I work 10-12 hours a day regularly and sometimes more plus many weekends...I drive 80 miles a day...I take care of my horses that are at a farm, not my house, twice a day and I have time for the gym...and I'm 45 years old. And any moms, particularly working moms and single working moms are laughing at both of us because what they do makes both of us look like lumps. Warning...you keep in that "go home eat & TV routine" not only will you be unhappy with your job but you won't like how your back end starts to look either!

[avintagegirl]

I have good news. Day three I finally got an assignment. It was quick but I finished it. I think I did well. My boss said I had two days but I finished in a matter of hours. I also didn't have time to finish another assignment. I have been trying to observe and gain feedback of my own accord. They give me a lot of details about an assignment but very little on how to go about it. My job contains a lot of interruptions. So in the middle of an assignment others will ask me for help. They don't really give me a ton of direction on how to handle that. Do I stick to my work or help a lot and forgo what I am doing. I'm trying to figure it out. I talked to my parents. My father thinks they are giving me a lot of time to adjust and then the big boss is going to just dump a bunch of work onto me. I think he wants me to handle more of his work because he is overloaded.

 

If it were me, I'd help the others. If they are giving you a couple of days to get an assignment done, I'd be the team player and help out. Plus since you are new, it will be helpful for you to know what others do.

[amkxoxo]

I wake up at 7 and walk to work by 8:15 and then work starts at 8:30. Then work until 4:30. I get a one hour break whenever I want. I will either call my parents or walk back to my house and eat and hangout watching televiaion.

 

Then when I get home around 4:45 I change my clothes and try and make something to eat. Then it's about 6. I catch up on social media, clean a bit, and watch some primetime TV. I am worn out. I don't know why sitting at a desk all day makes me tired but it does. I used to love working out a ton but by the time I get home and make dinner etc...I don't feel like driving to the gym. I also enjoy watching some television from 8-10pm then I usually get ready for bed and relax in my bed by 10:30. I have a medical condition and between that and the medicine I am on for that it can make me more tired than a normal 23 year old. So that's my life. I had a friend over to visit the other night but I was so tired we just talked abs I yawbes a lot. We usually hangout all the time but she stayed two hours and then left so I could get to bed for the night. I'm hoping that the weekends I can have more social and leisure time since I don't work. But j have been resting and catching up on chores etc...so I haven't had the chance. I guess I just have to get used to it. I just feel like I don't have time or resource to practice what I used to enjoy. I guess you can't keep your hobbies once you grow up.

[Allumere]

So you have a 7 hour "work" day actually...that's good...use that hour break time to exercise, do something artsy, read a book...take your lunch and eat it at your desk. If you have a medical condition and fatigue is a problem make sure you stay in regular contact with doctor as some tweaking in meds, supplements/general nutrition may be of assistance.

[Snaggletooth]

It's early days so give it a chance. It also takes time to adjust to to full time working life so maybe set yourself a target to reach as a challenge to yourself. Three months or something, just so you get to experience a little more before making any decisions.

 

For what it's worth your post very much reminds me of my first job. Maths was my thing so I walked into a great opportunity in finance, I thought it was what I wanted to do. I hated it from the word go. Found it too easy and being inside all day with no challenge for mind or body felt like a long slow death. The boredom was rotting out my head and sitting on my backside all day left me exhausted. I also couldn't abide the snide and slimy type of people I was working with. I had to switch off so much of my natural energetic self in order to see the day through that it was making me ill. I stuck for about four months then moved on to a similar job with another firm. Same thing, hated it, so I quit, took up a trade and never regretted it. Outdoors, normal down to earth people, it made the world of difference and even though the work is physical very demanding and the working hours longer, I had the positivity and energy to do all the things I wanted outside of work.

 

Being unhappy in your work will make you tired and a mind or body that isn't challenged or stimulated will slowly gnaw away at you. Well worth giving it more time, though. At the very least you want to be able to look back with absolutely no doubts that you made the right decision.

[RockyCruz]

So I graduated college earlier this year and got a bachelors degree. I spent all summer job hunting until I got an offer from my university. The job was similar to what I did in college but not totally the same. I figured I could do it decently. I just finished the job on day two and I don't like it. I had to relocate about two hours from my family for this and I am so unhappy. I sit in an office 9-5 which I thought I would enjoy but I don't.

 

It's ok. It's natural. It's begining of something new. It can be daunting, a bit boring too, a bit like "what am I doing here. The sun is shining!"

 

Give it time mate and get involved in getting to know people in office. Turn it around and make it what YOU want it to be. You will find, if you give it some more time, like months....you'll suddenly see things you didn't see in the beginning.

 

Be patient and soon, you'll be rocking the house.

 

By the way, congrats on your job. Well done. It's an achievement to do your degree, get a job. So well done.

Edited November 19, 2014 by RockyCruz

[pink_sugar]

It's ok. It's natural. It's begining of something new. It can be daunting, a bit boring too, a bit like "what am I doing here. The sun is shining!"

 

Give it time mate and get involved in getting to know people in office. Turn it around and make it what YOU want it to be. You will find, if you give it some more time, like months....you'll suddenly see things you didn't see in the beginning.

 

Be patient and soon, you'll be rocking the house.

 

By the way, congrats on your job. Well done. It's an achievement to do your degree, get a job. So well done.

 

I had a hard time getting used to my new job, but now we're almost like a family. It did take a while for me to warm up and fit in.

[RockyCruz]

I had a hard time getting used to my new job, but now we're almost like a family. It did take a while for me to warm up and fit in.

 

It is a good feeling when it happens. I have a couple of friends and they weren't having a good time when they started but now, well, they are going to pub with the staff, having a laugh and even in weekend going out nightclubbing with some of them. Doing the Halloween party, this party and that gig.

 

So great to hear you rocking the house and you found a good team and company.