What do I do about this job ?

[cheburashka]

I can't give very concrete details because I'm afraid of my coworkers reading this website, but I recently started a new job. When I applied, there were too many applicants and only 3 openings but they hired me anyway even though they filled the first three because they felt I was an exceptional candidate.

After I was hired, I was told they would create a special position for me. At the company they have 2 types of positions - Position A that pays on the hourly basis + position B on the fixed salary. I was told I am going to be position C working much less hours getting paid 2/3 of position's B pay.

Well I worked for a little less than a month now and I am really not liking the way it is currently turning out. I work much more hours than I am supposed to : 35 hours a week + take home work vs. 15 hours that I was promised. Plus instead of being in the middle and working as a position C, I am doing just as much, actually more load-wise than both position A and B. So it's like now I am working both jobs at the same time, but only getting paid for 2/3 of one position.

On top of that I am the only one amongst the salary people that has a superior knowledge to the subject matter - I have one degree in it, finishing the second one and have much more hands-on real life experience. Out of 3 people, 1 has little, the other 2 none.



I feel bad and don't know what to do for several reasons. I want to leave but there are several problems:

1. My boss is also my boyfriend's coworker at the company my bf works at. They have the same positions there and work together so it would be extremely akward for my bf if something was to happen.

2. I most likely won't get paid for 3 weeks that I put in right now if I leave.


I want to ask for raise because I feel given my education and the fact that I work much more hours than supposed to I should get as much as position B people. Do you guys have any thoughts ?

[Jill]

Id go to your boss and state your case....

[VPT]

I don't know how the politics is but can you ask your boyfriend for help and his advice?

[stellamaried]

I think this happens a lot to people (primarily women) who go back to work part time in what is traditionally a full time position.

I would just be very clear with your employers that it was your expectation, and was your agreement with them, that you were willing to work X number of hours per week for $Y dollars. They may not have noticed, the person who hired you may not be your immediate supervisor and there may be some miscommunication, or they may be trying to take advantage of the situation. At any rate, my advice is pretty much the same: be consistent and tell them that you work X number of hours per week. If you are willing to work more than that, then set up a pay scale for those extra hours and get it all in writing. If you're not, when you're given a new assignment or project, remind whoever it is that you are working for that you are happy to help, but can only devote Z numbers of hours to the project. Be polite and professional but firm and don't deviate from your agreement with your employers. If they are looking for you to work more hours, then they need to pay you more. If they're not willing to live up to their initial agreement, then reevaluate.

As for your co-workers, it sounds like they just have less experience than you -- does that really impact your ability to perform your job? If not, don't worry about it, as it's just not your issue.

[redney]

Originally Posted by stellamaried

I would just be very clear with your employers that it was your expectation, and was your agreement with them, that you were willing to work X number of hours per week for $Y dollars. They may not have noticed, the person who hired you may not be your immediate supervisor and there may be some miscommunication, or they may be trying to take advantage of the situation. At any rate, my advice is pretty much the same: be consistent and tell them that you work X number of hours per week. If you are willing to work more than that, then set up a pay scale for those extra hours and get it all in writing. If you're not, when you're given a new assignment or project, remind whoever it is that you are working for that you are happy to help, but can only devote Z numbers of hours to the project. Be polite and professional but firm and don't deviate from your agreement with your employers. If they are looking for you to work more hours, then they need to pay you more. If they're not willing to live up to their initial agreement, then reevaluate.

As for your co-workers, it sounds like they just have less experience than you -- does that really impact your ability to perform your job? If not, don't worry about it, as it's just not your issue.

GREAT advice!

The most appropriate way to discuss your job and request re-alignment to either reduced hours as originally discussed or increased pay to compensate for working more hours than originally discussed is to lay it all out clearly, professionally, and without comparing yourself/qualifications to your co-workers.

And if your boss is professional, he will keep his working relationship with you and his working relationship with your BF completely separate. They are completely separate anyway so I wouldn't waste one second worrying about that.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[pr1nc355]

This has happened to me before, and honestly, I wouldn't consider leaving or bringing up your issues yet. If you can, I'd suggest you work your butt off for a few months and make yourself valuable to the company, then they'd see how much they need you. And I agree with the statement about not worrying about the experience levels of your coworkers. I have a lot less experience than mine, but I'm still as productive as they are, and for that reason, I'm put in charge often.

[cheburashka]

Originally Posted by pr1nc355

This has happened to me before, and honestly, I wouldn't consider leaving or bringing up your issues yet. If you can, I'd suggest you work your butt off for a few months and make yourself valuable to the company, then they'd see how much they need you. And I agree with the statement about not worrying about the experience levels of your coworkers. I have a lot less experience than mine, but I'm still as productive as they are, and for that reason, I'm put in charge often.

Thanks guys, I do appreciate your advice so much. The whole reason I brought up my education is because I am in the field where education means everything - there are certain fields that require certain level of education like medicine, science, engineering and etc. And this job requires indirectly but still a lot of technical academic knowledge. The other guys have liberal education in unrelated fields so although they are good at planning/doing certain tasks the burden is on me when it comes to several things. The fact that I am one who has it but getting paid the least is what is making me so bitter.

Also I can't commit to to working so many hours because I'm doing a hundred things simultaneously - studying for a big admissions test for professional school, filling out long applications, volunteering. It's gotten to a point where I slept 2,5 hours last night because I had to finish a bunch of things.

I guess I have no other options but to talk to my boss.

I guess I am also really upset because I took this job because I turned down 3 !!!other job offers because I have wanted to work at this job so badly and now I feel very cheated.

[PetiteChaton]

Given all the details.. I would have a nice friendly, casual chat with your boss ..and i would tell him that Ive been offered a new position at a firm which pays much more then your current position...however you feel that you've grown very fond of your work place and fit in well with the organisational culture and the people..and was wondering if they would be able to work something out for you ... in terms of matching up to that other salary.. then you name your price..and if they say no, you simply leave the job.. you know you're worth more..so go and get what you deserve.

[IntlSet]

How old are you?

I don't mean for this to sound harsh because I understand where you're coming from.

How senior is the person who makes more and yet knows less than you do? Is it possible that he/she has a knowledge base that's useful to your company, which you are unaware of? I'm shocked to hear some of the credentials my colleagues have -- I never would have guessed. There's a girl I work with who used to baffle me because she didn't seem to work as hard or do things as seriously as all the others -- but I discovered that she happened to be STELLAR at one task that is vital to my company... so she's a boon and they keep her around.

When you're young and probably fresh out of school, don't expect to work just 35 hours a week and never have to do anything else. I think this is really the time in our lives when we're paying our dues. I work 55-80 hours a week (I'm salaried). On average, I work probably 60 hours a week. I don't feel that this is abnormal, nor did I ask for further compensation... although after a year, I received a raise I didn't ask for.

Ask yourself if you're on a career track, or if you're merely working a job. Rarely is a truly excellent job JUST 9-5 with an hour lunch in between.

Is there a possibility of an annual bonus? That's how my company equals things out (On a salary basis, I'm paid less than certain individuals who at the end of the year I end up making more than, once I receive a bonus)... could you end up being compensated more than the person who currently makes more but has less knowledge?

[lovinalotofbags]

I would definitely speak with the boss. You were hired for a certain amount of hours and money and now the hours are longer and money stayed the same. It seems as if you should have been hired for one of the other positions. Also I think you wanted less hours b/c of your other commitments. Handle this on your own. Be confident. Good luck and keep us posted.

Option 2 would be keep mouth closed, work ass off, slack off on other commitments, get no sleep and be pissed all day with headaches.

This is a no brainer on what I would choose. You need to take care of yourself.

[IntlSet]

Originally Posted by lovinalotofbags

I would definitely speak with the boss. You were hired for a certain amount of hours and money and now the hours are longer and money stayed the same.

Please don't think I'm attacking anyone here (tone is so hard to decipher over the internet) but do people actually pull the "this isn't in my job description" line on their bosses?

I think my boss and pretty much all my friends' bosses would FALL OVER if one of their employees came to them and said, "But I'm only working a 'full-time' job, that's 40 hours a week." I have friends who quite literally work 80+ hours a week. Like, they are still in the office at 3:00 a.m. They write on your facebook wall at odd hours like 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday and say, "Hey, I'm at the office, but when I leave tonight at 10:00 p.m. do you want to grab a drink?" Granted, they're well-compensated, but they didn't ask for yet more money when they found themselves locked in the office at all hours of the dawn.

I understand the OP has an education. Even a great one. So does pretty much everyone else. Having spent 4 years in a classroom does not mean that you don't have to put up with workplace crap when you graduate. I don't think 15 extra hours of work a week on a salaried position is exceptionally terrible, nor does it call for a substantial increase in salary.

By the way, are you in bio? One of my dearest friends works in bio research after graduating from undergrad for the University of Chicago. She also takes graduate courses there. She works 45 hours a week.

[cheburashka]

Originally Posted by IntlSet

Please don't think I'm attacking anyone here (tone is so hard to decipher over the internet) but do people actually pull the "this isn't in my job description" line on their bosses?

I think my boss and pretty much all my friends' bosses would FALL OVER if one of their employees came to them and said, "But I'm only working a 'full-time' job, that's 40 hours a week." I have friends who quite literally work 80+ hours a week. Like, they are still in the office at 3:00 a.m. They write on your facebook wall at odd hours like 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday and say, "Hey, I'm at the office, but when I leave tonight at 10:00 p.m. do you want to grab a drink?" Granted, they're well-compensated, but they didn't ask for yet more money when they found themselves locked in the office at all hours of the dawn.

I understand the OP has an education. Even a great one. So does pretty much everyone else. Having spent 4 years in a classroom does not mean that you don't have to put up with workplace crap when you graduate. I don't think 15 extra hours of work a week on a salaried position is exceptionally terrible, nor does it call for a substantial increase in salary.

By the way, are you in bio? One of my dearest friends works in bio research after graduating from undergrad for the University of Chicago. She also takes graduate courses there. She works 45 hours a week.

I don't think you are attacking me - I just think you have misunderstanding about the situation because I can't disclose all the facts. I was hired to work PART-TIME 15 hrs a week, they knew I would be working a 2nd job, studying for the big test in August and applying to professional school this summer. Now I had to put everything on hold because of this job.


I have worked in research and I know the field a little bit. I understand it would be rediculous to expect set hours when working in research. But this is not a research - this is a exactly the type of job where you WOULD work a set amount of hours. I was taking summer school for God's sake and had to drop out of my class with a W on a trasncript because the hours were so much more than I expected.


Also about the education - I do realize that everyone has a bachelorette degree. I'm finishing up a 2rd one in states and I have another one from a different country - but some degrees are just more relevant to the job than others. You can't work as an enginieer with B.A in history, or as a doctor with a HS dimploma, and some of these guys don't have/have minimal amount of technical training.

The other people are 10 + years older than me, so age is definitely a factor.

Also full-time positions and part time positions are completely different, I was hired specifically part time, had it been full time I wouldn't complan. I am currently making 600 $ dollars a month at 15/hr, how is this a fair compensation for somebody who works almost full time ? 10-15 hours a week maybe, but full time ?


The jobs that I turned down would pay several times more, but they required more time. Part of the reason I took the job was because of the schedule and now it seems that I should have definitely taken the other jobs.

[IntlSet]

Originally Posted by cheburashka

I don't think you are attacking me - I just think you have misunderstanding about the situation because I can't disclose all the facts.

I have worked in research and I know the field a little bit. I understand it would be rediculous to expect set hours when working in research. But this is not a research - this is a exactly the type of job where you WOULD work a set amount of hours. I was taking summer school for God's sake and had to drop out of my class with a W on a trasncript because the hours were so much more than I expected.


Also about the education - I do realize that everyone has a bachelorette degree.

I see -- you are correct, I did misunderstand. I don't have any advice, but I laughed at your typo at the end. That's really cute!

[cheburashka]

Originally Posted by IntlSet

I see -- you are correct, I did misunderstand. I don't have any advice, but I laughed at your typo at the end. That's really cute!

Well thanks for the encouragement, I'll go talk to my boss right now, just because I am so miserable I don't think I can work there much longer. I don't like being an unhappy person.

[kbell]

Originally Posted by cheburashka

I can't give very concrete details because I'm afraid of my coworkers reading this website, but I recently started a new job. When I applied, there were too many applicants and only 3 openings but they hired me anyway even though they filled the first three because they felt I was an exceptional candidate.

After I was hired, I was told they would create a special position for me. At the company they have 2 types of positions - Position A that pays on the hourly basis + position B on the fixed salary. I was told I am going to be position C working much less hours getting paid 2/3 of position's B pay.

Well I worked for a little less than a month now and I am really not liking the way it is currently turning out. I work much more hours than I am supposed to : 35 hours a week + take home work vs. 15 hours that I was promised. Plus instead of being in the middle and working as a position C, I am doing just as much, actually more load-wise than both position A and B. So it's like now I am working both jobs at the same time, but only getting paid for 2/3 of one position.

On top of that I am the only one amongst the salary people that has a superior knowledge to the subject matter - I have one degree in it, finishing the second one and have much more hands-on real life experience. Out of 3 people, 1 has little, the other 2 none.



I feel bad and don't know what to do for several reasons. I want to leave but there are several problems:

1. My boss is also my boyfriend's coworker at the company my bf works at. They have the same positions there and work together so it would be extremely akward for my bf if something was to happen.

2. I most likely won't get paid for 3 weeks that I put in right now if I leave.


I want to ask for raise because I feel given my education and the fact that I work much more hours than supposed to I should get as much as position B people. Do you guys have any thoughts ?

Since you've worked they have to pay you.
I would speak to your boss and not just in a casual way.
You had an agreement on hours & salary when then hired you.
They have broken that agreement & to me that isn't a casual thing.
If you have school & other things going on I'd tell your boss you can
only work the 15 hours as was your arrangement & no more keeping your current salary - basically enforcing what they promised.
If you really are more concerend about getting paid than I would
come up with a new agreement for more hours & more $$.
What your coworkers are doing has nothing to do with your
arrangement so I wouldn't even bring that up.