A
female
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:Hi everyone, I seriously need some career advice. For 10 years now, I've worked in admin in various roles in corporate companies. Last year, I gave up the 9-5 slog and studied journalism fulltime.. thinking this would give me the chance to have a more exciting stimulating career. I was fed up with being the office dogs body. Well, I succeeded in proving to myself that I was capable of taking on a challenge and excelling. I topped my class and my name was on the front page of the paper multiple times last year.. I also made international news and one of my newspaper articles sparked enough interest to get one of our main TV channel's national news reporters onto the story. Anyways, when the time came to start looking for work.. I had inquired about an office job that I had heard was with a REALLY fantastic firm.. and explained what skills I've learnt over the year. With no jobs in journalism in the area at that time.. when I was offered the office job, I accepted.. with my new boss promising this would be an opportunity to utilise my skills while also using my admin experience. My tutors were shocked that I was going back to office work.. but to be honest, trying the other side of the fence.. in journalism the deadlines were wearing me down.. I wasn't sleeping at night.. always worried about story ideas to pitch.. and the pressure was really getting to me. Going back into 9-5 work felt appealing at the time.. especially since they were going to allow me to use my newfound skills as well. After I'd worked through the night for a year.. and the reporters I had worked with at the regional paper were so ruthless.. I just wasn't sure I fit into the environment. So I took the office job and have been freelancing in my spare time since.Another reason I decided to take a job with fixed hours, was to help my relationship with my bf which had been problematic since I'd been studying. I'd gone weeks without seeing him because I was just so busy.. and I was always clear to him I was doing the best I could with the pressure I had on me with the course.. but I found out just a few weeks ago that he's been cheating on me all year.. BEFORE I even started the course.... so I really feel stupid in taking this job.. because partly it was so we could get back to the way we once were.. when I had more time :(Anyways.. going through the grieving process over the ex bf.. of course I'm feeling overwhelmed.. and this job has become absolutely unbearable!I've been in the office now for around 6 weeks.. and being front of office, I was told that I would be doing PR work and I wasn't JUST a receptionist. I have enjoyed the contact with clients.. but I have no time to even think! I'm absolutely SWAMPED in paperwork and unable to use ANY of my new skills. I have an absolutely IMPOSSIBLE workload.. and received just 4 days of training and was just left to it. When I try my best to just plow away.. I just end up drowning in piles! The other girls in the office are entirely different to me. I'm one of those nice, open, approachable people and so ever since I've started, I've been absolutely overloaded with work.. while the other two office girls swan around the office.. doing barely anything.. but just bark out orders to me.. "GET THE MILK".. "TIDY YOUR OFFICE".. as if they're my bosses. I feel like in this job that everybody is my boss.. and I am nothing but the office goafer.Now I'm confused about why I walked away from the journalism industry. The fixed hours and nights to myself were appealing when I chose this job.. as I'd missed that.. but now I feel absolutely overwhelmed everyday.. expected to take care of EVERYTHING in the office.. and just somehow cope. Tell me, how can you answer the phones, vacuum the floors, order the stationery, deal with customers coming into the office, prepare marketing appraisals, run the company website, prepare window advertising.. and wash and collect everyone's dishes at the end of the day, all at the same time? The harder I work.. the more I'm just burning myself out and not even making a DENT in the workload. No one offers to help me out with a new listing or an appraisal.. because I guess if they learn how to do it.. they'll be asked to in future.. you know.. the all-too-familiar control-freak office politics tactics? It's always about power.. never about how hard you actually try and work! I feel like if I admit how behind I am in important tasks.. they'll just look at me as if I'm incompetent. It's already started happening! My boss is having talks with me about goal-setting and prioritising and time management.. that's fine.. but the reason I'm BEHIND is because people are calling and coming in all day and I'm trained to drop what I'm doing to provide 'fabulous' service to these people.. so what am I supposed to do.. work through the night to catch up on paperwork??Anything that comes up seems to fall on my shoulders..and there's no use trying to delegate work out.. no one wants to know about it. I am at the bottom of the foodchain and you can't delegate upwards. Last week, they asked me to cover the advertising girl's job while she goes on leave.. and I've been in training for that.. but yesterday I went to see my boss and burst into tears and told him it was all just too much.. and I could not physically do 2 JOBS and answer the phones at the same time. Now they've agreed to outsource the work.. but my boss hates spending money (as we're a small company).. so this is only a temporary fix until the next dilemma where they'll pull me in.I feel guilty for complaining, because I have a nice boss.. but in journalism last year, I was assertive, I was full of ideas.. I would argue my points with the editors. Now, back in office work, I'm finding it IMPOSSIBLE to speak up for myself and be assertive.. it's as if the ROLE of administrator is like a ball and chain around my anklles.. preventing me from speaking my mind! The people with the NICE personalities in these types of jobs seem to just get exploited! Then you have the middle aged fat, bolshy women who order the young ones around and do nothing themselves! I was just wondering what you think I should do? And if I'm complaining too much? Or if this inability to be assertive is REALLY to do with the role I'm in.. and whether you think I've made a huge mistake.My head's a mess at the moment. I look forward to hearing what you think.
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
reader, anonymous, writes (23 February 2010): It certainly sounds like the job simply hasn't lived up to expectations! Have you spoken with your direct boss about the issue? After all, you were lead to believe that this this job involved much more than office administration.
If you have spoken with him, what'd he say in reply?
There are a lot of people out there who can stomach an unchallenging 9-5 job, but you are obviously not one of those. You need the challenge and your boss needs to realise that.
A
male
reader, Shashi  +, writes (13 February 2010):
Hi,
Can you afford to quit or is this job very important to you? If you can, then quit and look for a job elsewhere. Your colleagues are trampling upon you. This is not fair. I was in the same field and worked for both print and broadcast, so I feel some of the sorrow that you write about, but clearly you are hardly doing any real journalistic work in this organisation. You are a topper, so act like one. Get an organisation that values you, that values your work. Focus on your achievements at journo college...about the national news, etc.
Other alternative that you can consider, if you are not in a position to quit, is that you have to be assertive. Everybody has their limits and boundaries and people shud be made aware of that. I too had felt exploited and the "bottom of the pyramid" sting because of being pushed around. I just directly approached the concerned people one day and told them clearly where they were hurting me and affecting my work. It worked because they changed their behaviour after that. In media organisations, introverts and workalcoholics get crushed. You said that you are a journalist now, so act like one - Fight for yourself!
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