Discussion I got a Job but I don’t think I can actually do it — is it over?

[cvh1991]

Through some miracle after looking nonstop the past two years (side tangent why tf is it so hard to land a decent job nowadays?) I managed to get a different job to my current shithole one — you’d think I’d be ecstatic “but” I truly worry I am not skilled enough to do what they want. There is a very high chance I leave my current work then crash and burn immediately in the new one

Basically it’s as technical a role as you can imagine where the skill set and deadlines they expect frankly outstrip my abilities and I know it. In fact, I’d say their expectations are so high they probably had an extremely hard time finding candidates at all in the pay range.

People say fake it til you make it but when the rubber meets the road you have to actually do the job and I don’t think I’m smart enough to learn this stuff, certainly not in a compressed timeframe. I think that expression is true if you’re in some female dominated “soft” field where mainly you’re doing repetitive tasks or meetings, but say you get a job as a hardcore mathematician or some such — how the fuck are you supposed to fake it til you make it there?

Maybe Chad could survive something like this through charisma and befriending the right higher ups but I know that won’t work for me.

I’m screwed lads aren’t I? Ah well all I can do is try and hope if it falls through that I survive long enough to get unemployment When did jobs become so damned complicated? Humans in the modern era have replaced physical suffering with mental/psychological pain. The simple jobs that do exist don’t pay enough to live so unless you’re nepo’d into a good exec or management job just seems like you’re screwed if you’re average intelligence. Most people are not smart enough, myself including, to learn certain things — not everyone is capable of being a nuclear physicist, etc.

Anyway, if I bomb this job into the ground I have no idea what to do since it might take another 1-2 years to find work and I won’t be able to list this job assuming termination. One of the worst things there is how the company and your bosses look at you like you’re dirt and evil scum whenever you don’t meet some of their high expectations. Bosses and mega corps demand too much these days — and they all use metrics tracking now so it’s impossible to obfuscate how much work you’re doing versus your peers. Beyond that many company do the whole Microsoft thing where they axe the bottom 10% of staff by metric every year which leads to a terrible work environment but it’s not like the higher ups care.

I dunno, the biggest problem really is probably how companies never train anyone and they’re entirely unwilling to actually teach new hires Jack shit. You’re just expected to come into these complex roles, know everything there is to know, then perform better than everyone else at all times. I can’t do it psychologically man — this is why lots of companies just burn people out and drive them to quitting. And honestly they like it that way since they don’t have to pay unemployment for people who quit and while you’re there and the company is crunching you you’re giving high productivity

I’m tired bros, I’m just tired — I don’t wanna be failure anymore, but life is extremely hard all the time even when things go right like this they’re still going wrong

 

[Fire.]

survive long enough to get unemployment

That's plan B. You said you faked your skillset and that is hindering you from meeting the deadlines. Do you think you could learn them though?

 

[Max Doltman]

@Obour1995 what do you think about op post

 

[Fire.]

if I bomb this job into the ground I’m might actually just kill myself

don't do that over some job, you are talented and would shine in a trade

 

[Obour1995]

@Obour1995 what do you think about op post

Why do u ask me?

 

[cvh1991]

That's plan B. You said you faked your skillset and that is hindering you from meeting the deadlines. Do you think you could learn them though?

I have some of the skills, but not all. I exaggerated really only in the way most people exaggerate when applying for jobs. And I’d argue you basically have to now since it’s an arms race where if you’re a complete straight arrow you’ll never get a callback.

That said of course one has to be careful given background checks and references catch a lot.

The problem really is that there is zero onboarding and they basically want me to do something that maybe I could do in a year in 3 months. The other problem is that I was expecting some onboarding procedure even if it’s just documentation on setup but there is just nothing at all sink or swim. I’m probably fucked and am sort of panicking at the moment but all I can do is sleep on it and do my best.

 

[cvh1991]

That's plan B. You said you faked your skillset and that is hindering you from meeting the deadlines. Do you think you could learn them though?

Also I actually pass a rather technical 2 hour long test required for position eligibility. I actually do know a lot and am pretty good at what I do but like half of what they want is outside the scope of what I know. Based on the testing and my work history I actually thought I could do this in my defense what they described the job as, what they tested for, and what the job actually is are very different things.

 

[cvh1991]

don't do that over some job, you are talented and would shine in a trade

Thanks lad — I could become a welder I guess. I liked it in shop class. What I really wish is to pursue finance, like a financial advisor or something, but then I’d have to go back to college and I simply do not have that money or time. Uni is so fucking expensive I will never go again barring some special opportunity falling out of the sky to cost reduce.

 

[unluckygenes]

in my defense what they described the job as, what they tested for, and what the job actually is are very different things.

You acted in good faith. Good luck

 

[cvh1991]

You acted in good faith. Good luck

Thanks man — everyday I regret what I studied in college lol. I should’ve picked an easier field tbh

 

[unluckygenes]

Thanks man — everyday I regret what I studied in college lol. I should’ve picked an easier field tbh

Indeed. It is stressful to face challenges on a daily basis to come up with solutions to problems you have never encountered before.
It is easier to unwind from a physically exhaustive blue-collar job than the psychological terror you have to go thru even at night while trying to sleep unsure if you will find a solution and keep your job. Good luck. I hope you make it!

 

[cvh1991]

Indeed. It is stressful to face challenges on a daily basis to come up with solutions to problems you have never encountered before.
It is easier to unwind from a physically exhaustive blue-collar job than the psychological terror you have to go thru even at night while trying to sleep unsure if you will find a solution and keep your job. Good luck. I hope you make it!

How you describe it is eerily accurate. Id unironically rather work at McDonald’s than do the STEM job I do now (I used to work in fast food many years ago) but the issue there is I wouldn’t earn enough to survive.

 

[unluckygenes]

How you describe it is eerily accurate. Id unironically rather work at McDonald’s than do the STEM job I do now (I used to work in fast food many years ago) but the issue there is I wouldn’t earn enough to survive.

I am sorry for that.
In my country most people have no formal jobs due to real unemployment rate being above 50%. Also I am considered too old by HR to be hired.
Disputing customers with other folks also selling candies on the traffic lights is probably where I am heading to.

Good luck! I hope you make it!

 

[cvh1991]

I am sorry for that.
In my country most people have no formal jobs due to real unemployment rate being above 50%. Also I am considered too old by HR to be hired.
Disputing customers with other folks also selling candies on the traffic lights is probably where I am heading to.

Good luck! I hope you make it!

Real unemployment rate being above 50% sounds nutty -- in places like the US of course the unemployment rate is way way higher than what they "officially" report, but I don't think it's near that bad.

I'm surprised where you are its legal to not hire people based on an age threshold unless that threshold is extremely high -- in the USA we have geriatric old fogies running our country kek.

I appreciate the kindness, all I can do is study up and try to survive. I doubt it'll work out long form but hey at least I tried.

 

[unluckygenes]

Real unemployment rate being above 50% sounds nutty -- in places like the US of course the unemployment rate is way way higher than what they "officially" report, but I don't think it's near that bad.

I'm surprised where you are its legal to not hire people based on an age threshold unless that threshold is extremely high -- in the USA we have geriatric old fogies running our country kek.

I appreciate the kindness, all I can do is study up and try to survive. I doubt it'll work out long form but hey at least I tried.

Yeah. I live in a 3rd world peripheral country so the economic reality is significantly worse than in the US.

In order to avoid backlash they don't disclose the age limitation on job ads, which is even worse because you lose your time applying to those jobs, but they won't hire you either. HR considers those above 30 to be old (except for higher managerial positions) and I am 45, so I am pretty much effed. Basically the only happiness I have in my life is browsing internet, drinking and going out for walks while my savings dwindle. It's only a matter of time to end up homeless.

We have a gigantic PR issue. We are a group of outcasts. it is important to have people like you with an image of respectability in order to counteract the ever increasing demonization of incels.

I hope you can make it so you can fund at least a little bit of the things that make you happy.
Life is extra difficult for us but as long as you can still get an income you can pay for what you like and therefore your life was not just suffering.
Good luck!

 

[ethniccel1]

They testing you buddy. This test is your onboarding process.

Use logic to do the test. Design a plan based on past work experience and use logic to fill in the rest then implement the plan you designed. Thats the test they gave you.

 

[Dneum912]

They testing you buddy.

 

[Vendetta]

Through some miracle after looking nonstop the past two years (side tangent why tf is it so hard to land a decent job nowadays?) I managed to get a different job to my current shithole one — you’d think I’d be ecstatic “but” I truly worry I am not skilled enough to do what they want. There is a very high chance I leave my current work then crash and burn immediately in the new one

Basically it’s as technical a role as you can imagine where the skill set and deadlines they expect frankly outstrip my abilities and I know it. In fact, I’d say their expectations are so high they probably had an extremely hard time finding candidates at all in the pay range.

People say fake it til you make it but when the rubber meets the road you have to actually do the job and I don’t think I’m smart enough to learn this stuff, certainly not in a compressed timeframe. I think that expression is true if you’re in some female dominated “soft” field where mainly you’re doing repetitive tasks or meetings, but say you get a job as a hardcore mathematician or some such — how the fuck are you supposed to fake it til you make it there?

Maybe Chad could survive something like this through charisma and befriending the right higher ups but I know that won’t work for me.

I’m screwed lads aren’t I? Ah well all I can do is try and hope if it falls through that I survive long enough to get unemployment When did jobs become so damned complicated? Humans in the modern era have replaced physical suffering with mental/psychological pain. The simple jobs that do exist don’t pay enough to live so unless you’re nepo’d into a good exec or management job just seems like you’re screwed if you’re average intelligence. Most people are not smart enough, myself including, to learn certain things — not everyone is capable of being a nuclear physicist, etc.

Anyway, if I bomb this job into the ground I have no idea what to do since it might take another 1-2 years to find work and I won’t be able to list this job assuming termination. One of the worst things there is how the company and your bosses look at you like you’re dirt and evil scum whenever you don’t meet some of their high expectations. Bosses and mega corps demand too much these days — and they all use metrics tracking now so it’s impossible to obfuscate how much work you’re doing versus your peers. Beyond that many company do the whole Microsoft thing where they axe the bottom 10% of staff by metric every year which leads to a terrible work environment but it’s not like the higher ups care.

I dunno, the biggest problem really is probably how companies never train anyone and they’re entirely unwilling to actually teach new hires Jack shit. You’re just expected to come into these complex roles, know everything there is to know, then perform better than everyone else at all times. I can’t do it psychologically man — this is why lots of companies just burn people out and drive them to quitting. And honestly they like it that way since they don’t have to pay unemployment for people who quit and while you’re there and the company is crunching you you’re giving high productivity

I’m tired bros, I’m just tired — I don’t wanna be failure anymore, but life is extremely hard all the time even when things go right like this they’re still going wrong
View attachment 1100889

Picture is true

 

[based_meme]

I have some of the skills, but not all. I exaggerated really only in the way most people exaggerate when applying for jobs. And I’d argue you basically have to now since it’s an arms race where if you’re a complete straight arrow you’ll never get a callback.

That said of course one has to be careful given background checks and references catch a lot.

The problem really is that there is zero onboarding and they basically want me to do something that maybe I could do in a year in 3 months. The other problem is that I was expecting some onboarding procedure even if it’s just documentation on setup but there is just nothing at all sink or swim. I’m probably fucked and am sort of panicking at the moment but all I can do is sleep on it and do my best.

Bottom line, can you do the job? Or is it only a matter of speed and efficiency? If you have the skills and simply need to be brought up to speed, then you should be asking for as much details and documentation from your supervisor/manager as can be provided. If you don't, well....do the things you can and continue finding for work elsewhere.

Also I actually pass a rather technical 2 hour long test required for position eligibility. I actually do know a lot and am pretty good at what I do but like half of what they want is outside the scope of what I know. Based on the testing and my work history I actually thought I could do this in my defense what they described the job as, what they tested for, and what the job actually is are very different things.

HR are typically complete morons, especially about technical roles. Managers and team leads are partly to blame sometimes, because they usually give HR a general idea of the kind of person they're looking for to fill a role, but then HR tries to modularize that process (read: gets lazy) for various tangential roles without transparent and ongoing lines of communication with the departments needing those people. There's always going to be a disconnect between their job screening for the role they want, the role they advertise and recruit for, and the day-to-day job itself.

When you eventually jump ship and job hop make sure to cite this disconnect between the job that was advertised and you were screened for and the job you were actually expected to do. I'd say you should have a talk with you manager about this as soon as you believe it's right (soon enough that you avoid any pitfalls, but not late enough that they assume general incompetence). But it's far too early to have built that initial work trust (I use the term "work trust" and differentiate it as a subset of trust itself) and rapport to confide what they would perceive to be complete incompetence or you not being a "good fit for the team."

Don't make a big deal out of it just yet, but make it clear to your boss eventually that there's a large enough gap between job you have the skills and experience for and were hired for and the job you're doing now. Be honest and upfront in a very matter of fact kind of way, because their first instinct is going to default to laziness and incompetence or unwarranted complaining and whining. If you play your cards right, they might even pivot your role to play to your strengths, while hiring someone else to do the job you were supposed to do. This is rare, but it does happen.

In the words of Negan,

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njw-9Mv_Rlk
.

 

[cvh1991]

Bottom line, can you do the job? Or is it only a matter of speed and efficiency? If you have the skills and simply need to be brought up to speed, then you should be asking for as much details and documentation from your supervisor/manager as can be provided. If you don't, well....do the things you can and continue finding for work elsewhere.


HR are typically complete morons, especially about technical roles. Managers and team leads are partly to blame sometimes, because they usually give HR a general idea of the kind of person they're looking for to fill a role, but then HR tries to modularize that process (read: gets lazy) for various tangential roles without transparent and ongoing lines of communication with the departments needing those people. There's always going to be a disconnect between their job screening for the role they want, the role they advertise and recruit for, and the day-to-day job itself.

When you eventually jump ship and job hop make sure to cite this disconnect between the job that was advertised and you were screened for and the job you were actually expected to do. I'd say you should have a talk with you manager about this as soon as you believe it's right (soon enough that you avoid any pitfalls, but not late enough that they assume general incompetence). But it's far too early to have built that initial work trust (I use the term "work trust" and differentiate it as a subset of trust itself) and rapport to confide what they would perceive to be complete incompetence or you not being a "good fit for the team."

Don't make a big deal out of it just yet, but make it clear to your boss eventually that there's a large enough gap between job you have the skills and experience for and were hired for and the job you're doing now. Be honest and upfront in a very matter of fact kind of way, because their first instinct is going to default to laziness and incompetence or unwarranted complaining and whining. If you play your cards right, they might even pivot your role to play to your strengths, while hiring someone else to do the job you were supposed to do. This is rare, but it does happen.

In the words of Negan,

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njw-9Mv_Rlk
.

Thanks for the helpful comment -- yeah, my plan is to do my best and it'll go how it goes. I'll try to really kill myself figuring out what they want and if I can't cut it it is what it is. Hopefully I'd be able to find a different job without a huge gap but who knows -- took me ages and hundreds of apps during the recent dead window to get this one and that's when I have a pretty good degree with a lot of experience.

You're right about HR -- whenever I do interviews with recruiters or HR people I might as well be saying Star Trek technobabble as they have never had any clue what I'm even talking about. Eventually you might get to one of the technical people and then it's a bit closer.

My main gripe with how this went was:
1) Started interview, seemed like a good fit
2) Passed their technical test and met with the engineer type guy
3) The problem starts when I talk with that guy's boss who basically tacked on a lot of additional technical responsibilities that are not were not in the original requirements or testing (some very advanced industry veteran level functions) -- and like, OK at that point in the interview yeah I'm gonna say "Sure I can do that", but when the rubber meats the road some of this stuff one probably needs formal training beyond a few online self taught courses, that's the reality.

As I am I can probably do half of what they want so it'll be what it'll be. I don't think I'm stupid or anything, it's just this is not one of those female dominated soft fields where social interaction and meetings and maybe filling out some software screens or excel sheets is the job. It is way way more deep technically than that, but I can't be too specific for obvious reasons. Anyway, my plan is to try my best and keep interviewing in the background then things will fall where they may. I tell you though, nothing destroys your psyche like applying yourself 110% and busting your balls to solve a problem and then ... you just cannot solve it. One of the worst feelings then everyone around you or above you especially acts like you're some kind of moron when -- no, you're not -- it's just that the nature of this work is esoteric and very few people can do it. If I was smart I would've done what women do and gone into a field that was easier tbh.

I'll keep in mind what you said for transparency with managers and the company -- I'd feel really bad just leaving em high and dry, but sometimes in life you try and fail, just how it goes sadly.

 

[cvh1991]

Picture is true

Yeah, I relate to that image in the OP on a near spiritual level.

 

[based_meme]

I'll keep in mind what you said for transparency with managers and the company -- I'd feel really bad just leaving em high and dry, but sometimes in life you try and fail, just how it goes sadly.

Unless you know anyone in your department/team personally outside of work, never ever feel bad for that sort of thing. The company certainly doesn't when they cut costs or downsize and let you go with barely any notice.

This is all strictly business.

 

[curryboy420]

What job you dumb nigger

 

[cvh1991]

What job you dumb nigger

I have paranoia over feds and doxing what can I say — but yes I recognize that limits one’s ability to make insightful commentary or reply