Job Rant

[alexithymia]

I know I just made a thread like 2 min ago, whatever. Pleaseeee listen to this and tell me I'm not crazy for being so infuriated and wanting to punch a wall.

Soooo I've been working at this engineering company for a little over a year now. I've pretty much worked consistently 15-20 hours a week in addition to being in school full time. This semester my class schedule is SUPER spread out with weird breaks and stuff, so I talked to one of the main project managers (the one who hired me) and told him that my availability was going to drop significantly. I told him I can only work from 8 am to around noon on Mondays and Fridays, meaning I'd cut my hours more than half to only 7-8 hours a week. He understood, told me that was fine, and that they would probably need to hire someone else anyway since another intern was quitting. My supervisor (who is different from the guy I initially talked to, but I told her as well of course) has done nothing but get on my case about coming in more. It is absolutely infuriating me. I get texts saying "please make sure you're in at the office at 8 am tomorrow, there are a lot of reports to do", when she doesn't even roll out of bed and get there until 10 am half the time(and this is her full time job). And she's constantly asking me to come in on the weekends to work. And then last week, she tells me (this is all via text btw, so professional), "just so you know, performance reviews are coming up and I know Ken (guy in charge of finances) isn't happy with how little you've been working". I texted her back and said "I notified Jay last December that my hours would drop significantly and I'd only be working 8 hours a week maximum, so I'm not sure why I'd get reprimanded for not working enough when I gave proper notice and am even making an effort and coming in to work on the weekends. To be honest, I'm not sure why someone else hasn't been hired. The other intern quit and I dropped my hours down to more than half". She just said something "well I guess you'll have to talk to Ken about that at your performance review". Like WTF. And I have gotten texts both yesterday and today from her saying "can you please come in to work today? there is a lot to do". I HAVE CLASS!!!!! I told them exactly what hours I was capable of working that fit with my school schedule. Why am I getting texts 2-3 times a week asking if I can work when I clearly already stated I am not able to work besides Monday and Friday mornings. GODASD;FJSADOPFUASDPOFUASDPOFUASDPOFUSADOPFUSOUF. It seriously ruins my day. Because she's trying to make me feel guilty for not working as much, when it's their fucking fault that there's not enough time to finish reports because they didn't hire someone when the other intern quit and I dropped my hours. They essentially lost 30+ hours of work a week between the two of us, so it absolutely blows my mind that they can't seem "to find someone who has a good availability" (which were my supervisors exact words on why someone hasn't been hired), when there are tons of students around here who have graduated and have yet to find a job. So now, I have to go into this stupid performance review tomorrow and have them yell at me for not working enough when I clearly stated that my hours would drop THREE MONTHS AGO.

The ONLY reason I'm still working at that stupid place is to have a back-up for a summer job in case I don't get an internship elsewhere.

[ilovepickles11]

omg you need to get out of there. if they can't handle having a college student as an intern they should look elsewhere. you did everything possible and you can't just show up and skip class because they're lazy.

[MonitorNatalie]

To be honest, I'd just keep telling them about your availability, maybe write them a letter/email to get it in writing. If they end up firing you because you don't work enough then would there be something you could do about unfair dismissal seeing as you gave them warning and reminders about your availability and they were fine about it.

Is there someone you could speak to about the amount of texts she send you? Maybe her boss could have a word with her about how you're availability is limited.

[alexithymia]

omg you need to get out of there. if they can't handle having a college student as an intern they should look elsewhere. you did everything possible and you can't just show up and skip class because they're lazy.

I know, thing is, my supervisor never went to college. She's kind of a loser, and the only reason she got a job at an engineering firm (she basically does HR stuff, not engineering) is because she's known the essential "owner" of the company for a long time.

To be honest, I'd just keep telling them about your availability, maybe write them a letter/email to get it in writing. If they end up firing you because you don't work enough then would there be something you could do about unfair dismissal seeing as you gave them warning and reminders about your availability and they were fine about it.

Is there someone you could speak to about the amount of texts she send you? Maybe her boss could have a word with her about how you're availability is limited.

Yea I even literally stated when I talked to him in December "I understand if you need to let me go since my availability is so bad and hire someone else full time instead" and he was like "Oh no no, we like having you here, we'll just need to look into finding someone else to fill those hours". So if they fire me, that's seriously fucked up.

What makes me the most angry is that I can't stand up for myself and say "this is absolute bull, you need to hire someone else and stop blaming the fact that work isn't getting done on me, I gave more than enough notice that my hours were going to drop", because I need them for a good reference for future jobs. I feel like I take SO much shit at that job and I'm essentially the company's little bitch. Sometimes I literally have people come up and ask me to make a copy of something for them. THERE IS A COPY MACHINE THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE TO USE, just because I'm the youngest one there by 4 years and I'm an intern doesn't mean you can treat me like a doormat. But there is nothing else I can do but let people walk all over me and it kills me, because I absolutely hate feeling like I'm letting people walk all over me.

[broccoliandchz]

they prob only wana hire student interns bc they dont wana pay any more. why is the finance guy doing performance reviews? is there someone else at the firm besides your hr lady who can give you a good reference?

[alexithymia]

they prob only wana hire student interns bc they dont wana pay any more. why is the finance guy doing performance reviews? is there someone else at the firm besides your hr lady who can give you a good reference?

Yeah exactly. As an engineering intern they're paying me $11/hour... which is actually really shitty. Anyone I've talked to who is in my major and has interned before has made at least $15/hr. I know I should be happy I have a job, but I have to put up with so much and it's not worth it anymore. I'm going to ask tomorrow if I can be transferred to doing drafting for the summer (when I'll be working full-time if I don't get an internship elsewhere) instead of reports (I wouldn't have to deal with the supervisor that's always down my throat). Basically there are two "owners" of the company, I call him the finance guy just because he does finances while the other does more managerial stuff. But they're both engineers. I feel like the guy I talked to might give me a good reference, idk.

[EverAfter♥]

My old job did pretty much the same thing to me. I worked a lot, then I had to start clinical in addition to my full time class schedule and I told them I could only work weekends since I wouldn't have Thursdays/Fridays open anymore because of clinical. I told them nearly two months ahead of time, but my boss kept calling me while I was in class to come in. And then eventually she told me I either had to quit or I'd get fired. I was so pissed.

[broccoliandchz]

Yeah exactly. As an engineering intern they're paying me $11/hour... which is actually really shitty. Anyone I've talked to who is in my major and has interned before has made at least $15/hr. I know I should be happy I have a job, but I have to put up with so much and it's not worth it anymore. I'm going to ask tomorrow if I can be transferred to doing drafting for the summer (when I'll be working full-time if I don't get an internship elsewhere) instead of reports (I wouldn't have to deal with the supervisor that's always down my throat). Basically there are two "owners" of the company, I call him the finance guy just because he does finances while the other does more managerial stuff. But they're both engineers. I feel like the guy I talked to might give me a good reference, idk.

they are way underpaying you! no wonder they haven't hired anyone else and are trying to overwork you. that is what i made for my mindless work-study job in 2005, back when $11 was worth a lot more (lol i sound like an old person). and you have been there for four years! i could understand working for $11/hr if you were in a temporary crunch as many are these days, but for that long is not cool. i think you should try to get another job, but at the same time you probably will struggle to find something to fit your schedule. talk to the other owner definitely. bring up the salary thing then, too. or just threaten to leave if you can afford to do so and maybe they'll be more accommodating both in scheduling and pay. find an example of something you qualify for that would both fit your schedule and pay you more and bring it up to them...say you're considering leaving because they obviously need someone who can work more hours blah blah try to be tactful. obviously dont do any of this to the HR lady- talk to the owner who likes you.

[alexithymia]

they are way underpaying you! no wonder they haven't hired anyone else and are trying to overwork you. that is what i made for my mindless work-study job in 2005, back when $11 was worth a lot more (lol i sound like an old person). and you have been there for four years! i could understand working for $11/hr if you were in a temporary crunch as many are these days, but for that long is not cool. i think you should try to get another job, but at the same time you probably will struggle to find something to fit your schedule. talk to the other owner definitely. bring up the salary thing then, too. or just threaten to leave if you can afford to do so and maybe they'll be more accommodating both in scheduling and pay. find an example of something you qualify for that would both fit your schedule and pay you more and bring it up to them...say you're considering leaving because they obviously need someone who can work more hours blah blah try to be tactful. obviously dont do any of this to the HR lady- talk to the owner who likes you.

Yeah I know, the other intern who worked there and had an undergraduate degree and was in grad school only made $12/hour, it's ridiculous. Ha, I've only been there for a year, not 4. But that's still way too little. I'm definitely going to talk to them tomorrow and see if it's a possibility for me to work doing autocad over the summer. I can't really transfer to doing something new right now since I'm only at like 7 hours a week, but for summer I'll basically be full time. The only thing that will suck is if I end up getting an internship elsewhere and I have to take back what I said and be like "oh wait, nvm I got an internship elsewhere for the summer, see ya".

[broccoliandchz]

Yeah I know, the other intern who worked there and had an undergraduate degree and was in grad school only made $12/hour, it's ridiculous. Ha, I've only been there for a year, not 4. But that's still way too little. I'm definitely going to talk to them tomorrow and see if it's a possibility for me to work doing autocad over the summer. I can't really transfer to doing something new right now since I'm only at like 7 hours a week, but for summer I'll basically be full time. The only thing that will suck is if I end up getting an internship elsewhere and I have to take back what I said and be like "oh wait, nvm I got an internship elsewhere for the summer, see ya".

i think they would deserve that. you have to step on some toes to get places in life which i know can be hard to deal with if you're more of a pushover- i am too and it sucks

[alexithymia]

i think they would deserve that. you have to step on some toes to get places in life which i know can be hard to deal with if you're more of a pushover- i am too and it sucks

Yeah you're right. And I guess it's not like I would need them for a reference at that point. I'm just hoping the companies I'm applying for now don't call them up and ask about me. It's not like I wrote them as a reference, the company name is on my resume though.

[whiteoleander]

Wow, that sucks and is totally unprofessional. They obviously lack communication between management, which is never a good sign. Can you notify them again in writing about your availability and just suck it up a bit longer til you find a summer job?

[Strawberrie]

I think you should quit. But at the same time you have to understand their frustration. When they hired you they must've been under the impression that you would work 20hrs a week. And while you did notify them in advance, it's still an inconvenience. Now they have to find someone who can work 20hrs (because the other intern quit) as well as someone who can work 10hrs to cover the hours you no longer work. Or just someone who can work 30hrs. If you quit they could just hire two students to work 20hs each. The bottom line is no matter what you say, management isn't going to decide that you are right and they should be nicer or more accommodating. You either have to quit or deal with them treating you however they want because you did kinda screw them up a bit and they have more power than you. That being said I don't think they're being fair to you but you can't realistically think that's going to change.

[ilovepickles11]

I think you should quit. But at the same time you have to understand their frustration. When they hired you they must've been under the impression that you would work 20hrs a week. And while you did notify them in advance, it's still an inconvenience. Now they have to find someone who can work 20hrs (because the other intern quit) as well as someone who can work 10hrs to cover the hours you no longer work. Or just someone who can work 30hrs. If you quit they could just hire two students to work 20hs each. The bottom line is no matter what you say, management isn't going to decide that you are right and they should be nicer or more accommodating. You either have to quit or deal with them treating you however they want because you did kinda screw them up a bit and they have more power than you. That being said I don't think they're being fair to you but you can't realistically think that's going to change.

I'm sorry, I don't really agree with this. They knew in advance about her schedule and they most likely knew in advance about the guy quitting. They should have been proactive about hiring at least one new person because they know she is a student and students have limited availability. If this were her career, yes it would be different. But it's not. Also, they are severely underpaying her. My boyfriend is getting an engineering internship and at all the places he has spoken to, the starting pay is 17 dollars an hour. I know that varies by state, but she said she was underpaid herself.