Would you keep this job?

Sorry for the long rant-ish story, but I'd love some input from everyone....

I have been working in tobacco research for nearly 10 years - I love it and am about ready to commit my career to it, but before I do I wanted to gain some experience in other areas of clinical research.  The purpose of this part-time job for me is to simply gain experience - I do not need the money.  I accepted a position as a research assistant for the federal government way back around 10/15/08.  It took nearly a month for the hiring of me to be approved, finally I started working on 11/19/08.   My immediate boss just so happens to be out of the country from 11/15/08 to 1/15/09 - which isn't a problem in and of itself, but...

On 11/19/08 I came in did all of one department's HR training - computer training, security training, privacy training, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Then I met with my co-worker and things were fine (although insanely boring).

The next time I worked was on 11/26/08 I came in and went to turn in all of my training documents to the HR person and found out that I am really supposed to be in some other department.  Because my boss is out of town they didn't realize I was in some other classification.  So, I go to that HR and start at square one - do all the trainings over again (althought they are a tiny bit different given the different department).  Then again met with my co-worker, and again was bored to death.

Today, my third day there, I go to the second departments HR and was told yet again, ther was a mix up and I need to go to another department.  I am told yet again I need to do a completely different set of trainings.  Then went to meet my co-worker and proceeded to work on a puzzle all day because this job is so insanely boring that is all there is to do.

If all of these things happened with pleasant people it would be one thing - but, everyone was very rude.  For instance, the first time I  brought my papers in to HR the lady threw up her hands and said "I'm not taking that!" when I tried to give them to her.  Today I was told twice (by two different people) that I am not their problem.  Every day I have been there so far has resulted in me running from all over the building to different HR departments acting like a messenger ("so-and-so told me to tell you...").  The HR people act like it's my fault I don't know which classification I'm in and I don't know which department I'm in - then I show them my job offer letter and they say 'yea, that's not very clear is it.'  Well, duh, that's why I don't know anything!  In my experiences, the way HR treats you is a huge predictor of the way you will be treated while you work there.  I don't want to be treated like this.

Then when it comes to my actual job duties, like I said they are very boring.  I also have some moral problems with the way the research protocol is laid out.  Plus, the way they run the protocol is very sloppy, I cannot imagine the data is worth anything.  So, basically, I am not happy with the job duties either and I am not going to learn anything here.  Without sounding completely vain, the position is beneth me.  My time could be far better spent on other things.

In a nutshell...

• The reasons for not keeping the job are (1) HR people have been treating me poorly, (2) I will not learn anything in this position, (3) the pay is crappy, (4) the location is crappy, (5) I have problems with the way the study is run, (6) I suspect my boss will not be that great given the way he handled my while he was on vacation - he should have planned better, and (7) to date I have wasted nearly 20 hours on trainings I didn't have to do - that's just plain annoying.  
  
• The reasons to keep the job are (1) maybe when my boss gets back things will be better, (2) I have never bailed on a job so soon and really hate when people do that, and (3) I don't want this potentially bad ending to haunt me in the future.
  

I was going to say, make a list of pros vs. cons and see how they stack up. But you've already done that and the cons of the job seem to far outweight the pros... can you quit and find another position where you can accomplish the same goal, to gain experience?

Well it sounds like your gut is telling you it's not right for you. Are there many more opportunities like this to gain experience where you live? If so, pursue them and leave.  Or, to be safe and answer your pro's questions. Wait until January when your boss comes back. Give it until February to see if things improve with him. If they don't and you end up leaving, you'll know you're not just walking away so easily which you mentioned bothers you.

It'd be better for everyone involved if you cut your losses now and left.  It sounds like you're wasting your time... and really like they're also wasting your time.  If you leave now, it'll send the company, or at least the boss, the message that something is wrong and needs to change.  I might tell HR the position just isn't working out.  Maybe call the boss directly when she returns and tell her your experience so she can do something about it in the future.

I think I could easily find another similar position to give me other experience, but I almost feel like this has really reinforced my love for my current job.

jenningermany - I was thinking the same thing.  I think they need to know there is a problem.  While the third HR lady was explaining to me what I needed to do for the training I was drafting an email in my head.  An email to my boss and co-worker saying they were the only two people who were nice to me and I'm sorry to have wasted their time, but the HR process really spoiled it for me.  

Well the explanation to all of this is that it is government work. I work for the government and I would say that the rude behavior and the "it's not my job to do this" is because people in government positions are not held very responsible. The lack of productivity just amazes me sometimes. Also the lack of progress amazes me too. It takes so long to get things done where I am at. It's not a money issue, it's usually a staff issue. Things are at snail speed and the work is sloppy. The upside is that once your in your in. If you want to move up the latter later and want some job security it's great. Here if a position comes open it goes to a current employee first. Promotions happen much faster and the stress level here is much lower than that of the business world.

I think that you may be seeing the laziness side of the people there and not really personalities.

This is just in my experience in government offices v/s my experience in the business world. I started as a part timer and was full time in a month and have gotten 8 big raises in 2 years. Of course I started beneath my qualifications too and once my abilities were evident I got better pay and position.

I had a feeling that might come up and I have to mention that I worked for a different sector of the government for a year and it was completely different that this.  They still had the 'its-not-my-problem' attitude, but they were nice about it!  In this job they are plain rude.  So, I expected things to be slow and annoying in that area, but this is just over the top.

For example - I completed some certification about computer security, handed it to HR lady #3.  She says 'Are you kidding me?  That is three years old.  You can't try to get that by me, I know what certifications are legit around here."   Uh - where do you think I got this from, it's not like I would know how to find a three year old document.  Someone gave it to me to do - don't blame me for this and accuse me of trying to sneak things by you. (Can you tell I'm still all worked up!?!"

No. The HR employees' attitude needs work, but so does yours. Complaining about the work, the pay, the location, etc. Do you think this may have come across at all in the way that you acted towards other people?  Just saying.  There is a huge difference between someone that is eager and someone that feels a job is beneath them.  Maybe they picked up on that....or maybe they just don't like their job...who knows?

IMO. They should give the position to someone that truly needs the experience and would appreciate the oppportunity. I know nothing about your field, but I'm sure there are many individuals that would jump at the chance.

Concentrate on your full-time job and look for another opportunity that you feel may be a better "fit".

I'm totally eagar - if they kept me busy I wouldn't think it was beneth me.  I am happy to do grunt work - give me papers to photocopy, data to enter, whatever, I'd do it.  I just want to learn other content areas.  Asking me to sit and wait for work, is beneth me (beneth anyone for that matter).  I showed up every day early, worked on my trainings outside of my regular work time, kept in extensive email contact with my co-worker on my personal time, made several trips over there for HR (it's an hour from my house), I worked on things before I was even hired because my boss wanted to get things moving.  I really, really do not think my attitude was wrong (well, at least not up until now - I guess I got to my threshold now).

Original Post by fallingstars27:

No. The HR employees' attitude needs work, but so does yours. Complaining about the work, the pay, the location, etc. Do you think this may have come across at all in the way that you acted towards other people?  Just saying.  There is a huge difference between someone that is eager and someone that feels a job is beneath them.  Maybe they picked up on that....or maybe they just don't like their job...who knows?

IMO. They should give the position to someone that truly needs the experience and would appreciate the oppportunity. I know nothing about your field, but I'm sure there are many individuals that would jump at the chance.

Concentrate on your full-time job and look for another opportunity that you feel may be a better "fit".

 

Well I can say your way off base here with alle. She is nothing but respectful and helpful. She goes out of her way here on CC for us on other forums and she doesn't get a penny for it. I have never seen her *speak* a cross word. Get to know her, read her posts. She's GRREEAT  hee hee.

alle, maybe the HR group are just the **t**** of the place. We have ours here too. I think you should spend a little more time there and if you don't see what you want then leave after your boss has a chance to make things right. IMHO

Aww thanks.. 

I was also thinking of telling them in the email I send that I don't need to be paid for the time I spent there - considering I wasted their time too.  My main reason for wanting to keep it is simply because I would hate for it to come up in 10, 15, 20 years from now when my current group decides to collaborate with this group and someone at the gov't job says 'I think I remember her, she wasn't reliable..." So, maybe if I say I don't want pay I won't leave such a bad taste in their mouth.

Ms Ali, I say RUN don't walk to the nearest  exit.  Women are notorius for not listening to their intuition enough.  I think you know in your heart that this is not where you need to be.  You have way to much going for yourself to waste your time on this.  Good Luck.

Short answer: Quit now.

Long answer: Wait until your boss comes back from leave, explain what you've been through and wait a couple of weeks before quitting.