Work and a few questions.

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Okay so, bit of background info first. This is my first proper job and it's part of my university course as a job year, so basically its a real job just supervised by the uni. I am working in a Research and Development office.

As the 'new guy' it seems that everyone expects me to make the office (at least 7 people) all a coffee or tea. Every time I fetch myself a coffee or tea, someone is on about where is their one. Keep telling me i'm making a "Jack brew". Is it just me or what? I would prefer if no one asked me if I wanted a hot drink every half hour of the day and let me just get my own. If i'm going to make myself one, the kettle is already boiled, so I really don't see the problem.

Secondly, being a research and development environment, and the company having no money for projects, we can only work on free/costless projects. Being a software developer and hired as one, it seems a bit pointless hiring me if I'm not going to be doing anything. The boss is a nice man, but as a boss, he is useless. I have no deadlines. I really can't work without deadlines as it ends up me not seeing the point in doing anything if there is no time for it to be done by. I can end up doing nothing for an entire week and just surfing the net etc. Sure, i'm getting paid for it, but if i'm not going to be doing anything, what's the point of me getting out of bed?

Is it just me or has anyone else experienced similar?

Hi,
I'm an aspie and mom of an aspie trying to land his first job. As someone who's worked in LOTS of different places, I can tell you it's pretty common for the new guy/gal to be taken advantage of a bit. Usually, the coworkers stop after a while without any intervention. They figure you're not doing much of anything yet, so you might as well service and assist them. One thing you can when you've made coffee for yourself and someone says something is make a disgusted face and say, "UGH! You don't want THIS coffee. It's horrible today." Then just walk away. If they say to you, "Hey, are you gonna have some coffee?" you respond by saying, "I was just thinking about that! Yes, I'll take a cup. Are you making it now?"

As for the other problem, I've had that, too. Sometimes, it can seem worse not having enough to do than having too much. There are only so many things you can do to seem occupied. Since you can web surf, it might be a good idea to make up a little project for yourself. Make it something related to what your work is supposed to be. One thing I used to do was write articles and essays, as if I was creating a newsletter for people in my field or the general public. They actually wound up being useful a couple of times. Good luck to you. It gets better. Oh, and there will always be useless bosses along the way. Make him think and do his job! Go to him and say, "What would be the best use of my time right now?"