I am surprised I have not been fired from my job

Post Reply New Topic

I graduated from college with good grades, spent a year unemployed, and after a lot of failed interviews and humiliations I eventually found a job at a company where I currently work as a low level programmer.

My job is tedious, boring and repetitive. I have a hard time memorizing simple troubleshooting techniques and I'm constantly asking my coworkers for help. My coworkers constantly tell me that I ask them the same questions all the time. They explain me how to do something, but then I forget and a week later I'm again asking them the same questions.

I feel constantly stressed. I have very hard time concentrating. I have a hard time making sense of written instructions. I have a hard time understanding what people tell me. Sometimes I just stare at my monitor while my mind is gone. Sometimes I fiddle around with paper clips instead of doing work. Some people at the office are not as friendly as they used to be when they first met me. I am incompetent at my job and I constantly wait for the day I'll get fired. No wonder I also feel anxious and depressed.

Perhaps it's time to find a new job, but with my interviewing skills, I can't ask expect a job much "better" than the one I currently have. I very much wish I could snap out of this hell because otherwise I don't know how I'm going to end up.

Can someone identify? Does anyone have suggestions for me?

Oh no....you cannot possibly be happy working in this capacity and you're clearly not working to your potential. This is detrimental to you, your company, and co-workers. Can you talk to your manager/supervisor about this matter, with specifics, so an equitable solution can be reached? You said you're surprised you haven't been fired yet. Well, I hate to tell you, but you MIGHT get fired! Then, I promise, finding another job will be that much harder since you lack at interview skills. Incidentally, I am virtually not interviewable verbally either, so I totally understand. But do not let yourself get fired! Or even get a negative work assessment - your problems will become worse!

Maybe you could see Division of Vocation Rehabiliation (they help those to find more suitable jobs, which does NOT imply you're not employable or need rehabilitated). Obviously, you do work. In fact, I don't know how you work consistently at a job with is unsuitable for you and probably not challenging or stimulating at all. Believe me, your 'higher-ups' and co-workers will notice! If you're disengaged from your work your performance will invariably suffer. Please do not let the situation get so bad that you do get fired! Take action now to ameliorate the situation. It will not just magically get better - you must proactively intervene. This might mean getting a job in a different field - I do not know. For whatever reason, your current situation just does not work for you (and vice versa).

Ask for advice, and look elsewhere so you can be productive and you'll feel job satisfaction and pride - instead of boredom and frustration, which is not fair for you or anyone. You can do better for sure! Look around and use your resources and strengths. Remember you spend a good chunk of time at work, make it happy! Good luck! Sometimes this sort of thing is actually good in the long run (really) because it forces you to look outside of your usual interests. There's probably something, even completely unexpected, that you're amazingly gifted in! Let us know.......before inevitable disaster.

The best indicator: What are your outside interests? hobbies? What's your ideal work style? Take this into consideration and try to match this professionally.

Try writing down the questions that you ask over and over again, then writing down the answers.

Start looking for a job that you would enjoy more. Even if it's something "less" than where you are, maybe you'll be happier. I personally have found that physical work is more rewarding. You don't have to be a slave laborer, there are lots of jobs where you can be on your feet without exhausting yourself. Scour the employment section and you will find jobs that you didn't even know existed.

Interviewers all generally want the same thing... someone with a positive, can-do attitude, neat in appearance, nice resume, etc... you can practice these things and prepare in advance. Don't beat yourself up over failed interviews and humiliations, they happen to EVERYONE, all the time. The fact is that empoyers are only looking to hire so many people, so it's not because you're defective, it's just that someone else made a better impression. Most likely, they had more experience than you. But that's no reason to quit, just look at it as more experience for yourself.

I've had problems with co-workers in the past, hated my negative work environment, found my job boring. But I've been lucky in the past few years. I've been told that it's because of my "sunny disposition" that I get recommended for a lot of good jobs. And you know what? I'm not naturally a happy person! I just started faking it and soon it became a part of me, and I actually did feel happier because other people liked me. Maybe they thought "Well, she's not normal, but she's still confident and comfortable with herself" and felt better about themselves. I don't know. But it sounds like you have not much to lose with your current situation. Best of Luck!

Explain to the most friendly co-workers that you would like them to email you their explanations/answers to your questions.
Keep the emails in a file on your desktop.
Label it well so it is noticeable and you will remember what's in it just by reading it.

Having notes on pieces of paper means I have to remember I have them, then remember where they are and find the right one with the correct bit of information.

I wish you well!

I agree with wsmac, you need to start writing down information that you are forgetting. You need to become more organized to compensate for your memory.

1. Keep track of your daily tasks. Write down every task and when its due, so you don't forget to finish any of your work. Write down every dependency that exists to finish your task.
2. Keep notes one every specific topic you are working on that you think you'll likely forget. Write only enough information that will trigger the memory in the future.
3. If you are troubleshooting the same applications over and over again, then create a flow chart of everything you've figured out. E.G., if error 51, check config variable 1 exists, yes/no?, check log file, restart server, etc. Then when you encounter the problem and can't figure it out by memory, you can check your chart and see if you missed something.