Desperately unhappy in work

Heat_Wave

Hi All

I started a new job about 7 months ago in a well known company in Ireland that has an excellent reputation. This was a 12 month contract but I was told in the interview that they do not allow good staff go so the chances of permanency was very high if I worked hard.

The first few months went very well. I get on extremely well with my team and tbh, I think they would be devastated if I were to ever leave. They are like brothers to me, our friendship is so genuine and we have great banter and work very well together.

My manager has received several emails of good feedback on me and in terms of my work, the figures speak for themselves. I have made an enormous impact on the teams performance and to quote my manager 'you are like a light that has just brightened up the whole team - thank you'.

I have called a meeting with my Line Manager on several occasions to ask about permanency. Each time he said he would get back to me. He never got back to me, so I would call another meeting. So far, I have had a total of 5 meetings with him in the 7 months that I have been there, and never once have they been followed up. These meetings have not just been about permanency, he called me in to ask if I could recommend a friend to join our team, and on another occasion I asked him if the company would contribute to my college fees. I never received a response to any of these queries despite taking time to talk to him privately and been told 'Leave it with me and I'll get back to you'.

Last week I had enough of been ignored. For someone that works so hard, I know the least I deserved was a response. I asked my direct manager if she knew what the answer was about me becoming permanent and she laughed and said 'oh sorry Heatwave, yeah unfortunately that was denied. Gosh I'm so sorry I should have told you a few weeks ago'.

It has reached the stage now where I am crying randomly in the evenings and on the weekends because I feel so worthless. I know I am a huge asset to the team, and if I were to leave it would have a big impact on the teams performance. I am in charge of a certain process that no one else on the team (other than my direct manager) can deal with in my absence. I sit at my desk now thinking 'what is the point?'. I have slowed down my pace, and I have now started leaving at 5pm whereas I would usually have stayed till 6/7pm most evenings. I feel like I am not appreciated and why should I work my a*s off for these people if they will not even have the decency to get back to me on issues. It is so ignorant.

Any advice would be appreciated as I am very unhappy lately and I fear it is almost at the stage where the damage has been done and cannot be rectified.

Thanks for reading.
HW

EDIT: I cannot believe I forgot to mention the most important part! Two permanent staff members have left on our team in the past 7 months, and they have chosen not to replace either. Instead they offered another 12 month contract. Despite knowing how eager, enthusiastic and deserving I am, I was convinced I would be made permanent on at least one of these occasions.

L.Jenkins

I may not offer the best advice, but if you are currently this miserable in your role, then I think it's time to move and find work elsewhere. If a manager does not have the courtesy to answer your questions or queries, then I would have lost respect for them along time ago.

jimmycrackcorm

Heat_Wave wrote:

Any advice would be appreciated as I am very unhappy lately and I fear it is almost at the stage where the damage has been done and cannot be rectified.

You shouldn't take it personally. Its not a reflection on you but on how the company budgets over the medium to long term. It might simply be that it suits therm to just use 12 month contracts. No amount of any extra work hours over and above change that. A company does not owe you a job, instead you have to find your own opportunities.

However on the plus side, if you can go into an interview for another job with the same sense of confidence in your worth that comes across in your post then you'll have no problem getting another job. However do stick it out for the twelve months, first of all something could change in the meantime and secondly it might reflect poorly that you did less than a year.

Outkast_IRE

You are taking this personally when clearly it is not, you would be surprised how high up the chain decisions are made on the numbers of permament employees that are allowed each year for each department.

Honestly alot of the time its simply a numbers game and the person making the decision will have no idea of individuals names in teams etc.

bee06

Some companies have pretty strange ways of approving permanent roles versus contracts. I used to work for a company where a permanent role needed approval to high heaven but a contract role needed next to none. It could be something like that and you've gotten caught up in it.

Stheno

OP is this your first "real/adult" job?

Heat_Wave

But what about the ignorance? That is my main issue here. I took the time to speak to this man on several occasions and received no follow up on any occasion. I constantly had to chase and now I seem like a moan in his eyes I am sure.

bee06

Two possibilities, either he was in turn chasing someone and getting no response or he's just a bit ignorant. It happens, don't take it personally. Some people are just a pain to deal with and think their time and effort is more important than everyone else's.

Graham

Heat_Wave wrote: »

But what about the ignorance? That is my main issue here. I took the time to speak to this man on several occasions and received no follow up on any occasion. I constantly had to chase and now I seem like a moan in his eyes I am sure.

He may have had an idea that you would take it so personally and was trying to avoid exactly what is happening now.

Stheno

bee06 wrote: »

Two possibilities, either he was in turn chasing someone and getting no response or he's just a bit ignorant. It happens, don't take it personally. Some people are just a pain to deal with and think their time and effort is more important than everyone else's.

A third possibility is that OP has been quite naive in their approach to this role.
5 meeting requests in seven months into a 12 month contract about permanency sounds well over the top to me to be honest.

Heat_Wave

Stheno wrote: »

A third possibility is that OP has been quite naive in their approach to this role.
5 meeting requests in seven months into a 12 month contract about permanency sounds well over the top to me to be honest.

Three. Two were about different issues.

Stheno

Stheno wrote: »

OP is this your first "real/adult" job?

Heat_Wave wrote: »

Three. Two were about different issues.

THat's still pure madness, is this your first real job in a professional environment?

screamer

Heat_Wave wrote: »

But what about the ignorance? That is my main issue here. I took the time to speak to this man on several occasions and received no follow up on any occasion. I constantly had to chase and now I seem like a moan in his eyes I am sure.

If you think that why would you want to stay there at all. To be honest I think it's ok to ask about permanancy maybe once or twice but 5 times is a bit ott. Like the old Kenny Rogers song says know when to hold em. If I had a temporary employee who kept asking me about permanancy numerous times, college fees being paid etc id think it's very pushy and I don't think I'd want to have to deal with such a person full time and I'd have serious reservations about making them permanent.

Heat_Wave

Stheno wrote: »

THat's still pure madness, is this your first real job in a professional environment?

Hi Stheno, I don't know what gives you that impression. I have been working full time in a professional environment since graduating college four years ago.

As the first poster said, all I am looking for is common courtesy.

Batesy

I would've thought keeping your head down and working hard for the 12 month contract would've been the best course of action.
Calling 3 meetings within 7 months about a new contract has most likely made management wary of you. It sounds harsh and you may have thought being so eager would've come across well and helped your long term cause but management want an easy life too and not someone who seems to want a meeting so often. As far as they were concerned you're on a 12 month contract that will be reviewed towards the end of it.

Hope it works out for you though. It sounds like you enjoy the role and are good at it so you should be alright in the end.

Stheno

Heat_Wave wrote: »

Hi Stheno, I don't know what gives you that impression. I have been working full time in a professional environment since graduating college four years ago.

As the first poster said, all I am looking for is common courtesy.

Ok, well I think you may have confused what it's like to work as a fixed term contractor as opposed to as a permanent member of staff.

No company I have ever worked for would afford a fixed term contractor benefits such as paying fees for college. Nor would they be updating a contractor six months in advance of a contract ending that they were being made permanent, that's far too dependant on company performance and budgets etc.

Nor would it be expected that a contractor would constantly be looking to badger a manager about whether or not a contract would be renewed/converted to permanency a few months after starting a twelve month contract.

I also think that you are really over playing your importance to the team. Your team members do not love you like a brother, nor are you indispensable, your manager as you've said yourself can do everything you can do.

I may sound harsh, but I genuinely believe you have been naive in your behaviour here, and that has directly led to your contract not being made permanent.

screamer

And remember no one is indispensable to a company we are all replaceable and at the end of the day we are just a PPS number with a cost beside it. Many a person has learned that the hard way when redundancies or layoffs occur.

david75

Graham wrote: »

He may have had an idea that you would take it so personally and was trying to avoid exactly what is happening now.

Hammer. Nail. Head.

Less than a year in the job and you've asked the guy 'several times' about it and are now emailing him?
You've overstepped your mark I'm afraid. Nothing wrong with wanting to move to a permanent role but almost badgering the line manager is not the way to convince them.

Batesy

It might actually benefit you if you pull your manager to one side casually some day and apologize if you came across at all pushy and explain that you just really enjoy working there and would love to be made permenant. Then back off for a while and see what happens.

johnb25

Batesy wrote: »

It might actually benefit you if you pull your manager to one side casually some day and apologize if you came across at all pushy and explain that you just really enjoy working there and would love to be made permenant. Then back off for a while and see what happens.

That's sound advice. Reading the OP I definitely got a strong vibe of someone reading far too much into things; the friendships, value to the team, and reaction to permanency discussion. Do as suggested above, get on with the job and hope for the best.
Put yourself in your managers shoes for a minute. Of all the things on his plate, your status in 6+ months time is not top of the list.
It would have been better if he told you come back with a month to go, but it is where it is now.
And this is not meant as a personal pop at you, just my read/advice of the situation.

_Brian

This May seem harsh and be unpopular.

I can't believe the sense of entitlement coming across from OP. People make loose talk about Keeping you on if you work hard etc. it can be seen as a carrot to keep you working right to the end if your contract time.

I think OP would have come across as needy and very pushy, things in themselves would discount OP from being kept on, if that was ever even an option.

OP, I think you need to move on. You work hard and get on well which is great, but these things are expected rather entitle you to special treatment or guarantee you a permanent job.

screamer

Batesy wrote: »

It might actually benefit you if you pull your manager to one side casually some day and apologize if you came across at all pushy and explain that you just really enjoy working there and would love to be made permenant. Then back off for a while and see what happens.

I don't think it'll make any difference regarding being kept on you've showed your hand your manager has made up their mind. Usually people are in best behaviour when on probation or temp contract. If you're anyrhing other than that you'll not be kept on and being pushy is not a best behaviour to exhibit.

Graham

OP, I really think you need to relax about this. You obviously love the job and from your own account you're good at it and you get on well with the team. The only problem here appears to be in your own thinking.

This may come as a surprise but there's every likelihood that it's not about you at all. You've already stated that the company have decided not to replace 2 permanent staff who recently left, this may be a result of a permanent headcount freeze, an impending reorganisation or any one of a thousand other reasons entirely disconnected from you and your performance.

You've probably done yourself no favours with your recent actions. Enthusiasm is fantastic but it sounds like you've gone a step or two beyond that, desperation is rarely a good trait in any kind of relationship.

Contrary to other opinions here, I don't think you should sit down with your manager and have another chat, you should just keep your head down for a while and get the job done. I would not instigate any further meetings until towards the very end of your contract. As I mentioned in my previous post, it's very likely your manager had an idea that you'd over-react to the lack of a permanent offer and has been trying to avoid the situation. The last thing he needs is another 'oh good god here she/he comes again' moment.

TLDR:
Understand that the lack of a permanent offer may be nothing to do with you or your performance, put it out of your mind and get on with the job. It sounds like you'd be an asset to any employer, if circumstances dictate it's not this employer then see your contract out and move on.

Best of luck whatever the outcome.

Stealthfins

It took me 3 years to get a permanent position in my workplace.
I only asked twice about it,first time was in the interview the second time was a year and a half into my 3 month contract.
They had no other choice other than to give me the position.

Because they left the 3 months contact run over into 18 months,I was working away on the payroll for a year and a half and the CEO wasn't aware of it.

So the manager who employed me had to cover his tracks.

I knew what I was doing,boxing clever....

They didn't really know what they were doing.

Keep the head down work hard clock in and out.

Only be noticed when it's important,never get too close to management because if you're seen as a nuisance they'll get resentful and fob you off.

mullanp

I think you should be happy that you have a job and that you get on well with your colleagues, there's plenty of people out there with no job or stuck in a job they hate.

Lux23

Batesy wrote: »

I would've thought keeping your head down and working hard for the 12 month contract would've been the best course of action.
Calling 3 meetings within 7 months about a new contract has most likely made management wary of you.

This is what I think is the issue here, permanency should have only been discussed at say month ten. Asking about it a couple of months in is a bit cheeky as 12 months probation is pretty normal, in any job you can be let go in the first year.

LegacyUser

OP you are a contractor and just an employee, you don't ask for a permanent role after starting a contract role and certainly don't ask them for money for college. You are a contractor, a temp employee, the company don't owe you anything, your a name against a wage. Your manager may want to keep you on buts it's not up to them to hire you. He can put in a good word for you and that's it. Maybe they can hire someone for an extra 10k with 10 years more expierence and maybe want to do that.

I did I.T in college and got a 6 month contract role in a very good company. Kept my head down, did well and only asked if there is a possibility of extension in the last six weeks due to handing in notice for accomadation etc. Got offered another six month contract. Again in the last weeks I asked about an extension and my manager said she'll but in a good word for me to HR about a permanent role as she knew I liked the company. I got the permanent role.


Always remember OP you are easily replaced unless your absolute excellent in your job which I would say is 10% of employees from my expierence of the work place. Asking then numerous times about a permanent contract and money for college is a serious red flag.

ponzook

OP you are a contractor and just an employee, you don't ask for a permanent role after starting a contract role and certainly don't ask them for money for college. You are a contractor, a temp employee, the company don't owe you anything. Your manager may want to keep you on buts it's not up to them to hire you. He can put in a good word for you and that's it. Maybe they can hire someone for an extra 10k with 10 years more expierence and maybe want to do that.

I did I.T in college and got a 6 month contract role in a very good company. Kept my head down, did well and only asked if there is a possibility of extension in the last six weeks due to handing in notice for accomadation etc. Got offered another six month contract. Again in the last weeks I asked about an extension and my manager said she'll but in a good word for me to HR about a permanent role as she knew I liked the company. I got the permanent role.


Always remember OP you are easily replaced unless your absolute excellent in your job which I would say is 10% of employees from my expierence of the work place. The work place may plan on never keeping you on even your good at your job. They owe you nothing. Asking for money for college is really strange seeing as you are on contract and is a major red flag that you don't see how contract roles work.

Sorry for been blunt but that's how it is.

LegacyUser

Tbh OP, on the first reading of your post I also thought you were in your first job out of college.
I think you have read too much into the situation.You are on a year's contract-that in itself should tell you that you are dispensable.You seem to have convinced yourself that nobody can do your job but you and that you are the centre around which your team revolves.
I think you should move on.And I think you should also take this as a life lesson.Nobody is that vital to a company-you owe them nothing and they owe you nothing.Do your hours, and leave.You will not get any extra thanks for doing extra.Never sit there thinking nobody can your role but you...you can always be replaced.
I'm sorry to sound desperately cynical, but honestly, you've a long working life ahead of you and you do have to learn to build a bit of a shell around you when it comes to work, and not t take this stuff so personally.Jobs come and go, colleagues come and go, and that's just life.
Best of luck.

caviardreams

Lux23 wrote: »

This is what I think is the issue here, permanency should have only been discussed at say month ten. Asking about it a couple of months in is a bit cheeky as 12 months probation is pretty normal, in any job you can be let go in the first year.

This is exactly the way to handle it imo. Putting out a few feelers regarding extending your contract (not necessarily asking for permanency) with 6 or 8 weeks left on your contract is understandable, you would probably be close to or even finished probation at that point and most people would be aware that it would probably be fair to give you a chance to find another role if the answer was definitely going to be a no.

Asking so early on sends out the wrong signal imo, though it may depend somewhat on the sector you are in e.g. if short-term/fixed term contracts are very, very unusual for example.

beauf

Heat_Wave wrote: »

.... I sit at my desk now thinking 'what is the point?'. I have slowed down my pace, ....why should I work my a*s off for these people if they will not even have the decency to get back to me on issues. ....

Any advice would be appreciated as I am very unhappy lately and I fear it is almost at the stage where the damage has been done and cannot be rectified....

You're not working for them, you're working for you. You dredge every bit of experience and skill you can get out of the current job, that you can. Then use it to move somewhere else, or apply for better positions where you are.

Its a bit odd to get your nose so out of joint when your not even a year in the place.