This was my first full time job after graduating from college with a degree in Accounting. I had an interview at a mid-sized government contracting firm. My interview with the Accounting Controller and the two other accountants felt odd. They did not seem to have read my resume at all. The Accounting Controller had a thick accent and thought I majored in Accounting and Computer Science. My resume clearly stated I minored in IT. The other two accountants also did not seem to have read my resume either. Within 20 minutes on my way home, I got a call that they’d like to hire me, the recruiter told me the job position was open for quite some time and they really needed the position filled.

When I started my first week, it was a mess. One of the accountants (her name was “V”) gave me a very quick training on the accounting software they used, the base period funding for gov’t contracts I had to keep track of, tracking payments and issuing checks for subcontractors and some payroll related tasks. I had absolutely no past experience. Training was not very thorough and many other nuances were not covered. So I asked the other accountant (his name was “E”) and the Accounting Controller for help on things I did not understand. The procedure and steps they told me to follow were completely different from what “V” taught me and as a result I made quite a few mistakes.

Within my second week I would ask questions/clarifications. They would be either too busy or irritated with me. They would tell me to study my notes and figure things out with the materials I was given. I would study my notes and the materials available. There was a lot of technical stuff about government contracting I needed help with. I needed an actual explanation and step by step instructions. “V” told me it was not possible, I need to be able to figure these idiosyncrasies myself and I need to “think” for myself. I followed her advice and tried to self teach myself and did my job. I made a lot of mistakes. I was called in to meet with my three coworkers, they were furious.

“E” told me I need to do and follow what I am told. “V” told me I need to respect the system, open my mind, think critically, stop examining things under a microscope and asking bad questions, think about the bigger picture and make connections. The Accounting Controller simply told me to watch my mannerism and the way I talk to people. The critique was very harsh and did not really help me.

I got slightly better 6 months in but still made mistakes and struggled at times. I got a lot of unwarranted criticism during that time. Whenever I made a mistake, “E” and “V” would interrogate me with questions as to what happened. When the answer I gave them was not what they wanted to hear, they would become enraged. “E” mocked me when I stuttered once and told me I reminded him of Dustin Hoffman from the movie Rain Man. Dustin Hoffman played an autistic man in the movie. “V” would yell at me and asked me if I had a learning disability. Both “E” and “V” hated it whenever I paused and collected my thoughts before I answered. They told me to stop zoning out and I looked stupid whenever I did that. In one incident I had a hard time understanding what the Accounting Controller had told me due to her thick accent. When I asked her to repeat the instructions, she slammed her hands on the desk and asked me why I was so difficult to work with.

9 months later I was getting a lot better with a lot less mistakes. I overheard the three of them talking about their personal gripes about me in a conference room as I walked by. Among them were my social interactions. According to them I had a strange distinct blank stare whenever I was spoken to and before I answered questions. It annoyed them because I looked like an idiot. Few days later I was called into the Accounting Controller’s office, the HR lady was there as well. I was told to sign a Performance Improvement Plan. In the plan I was to perform my duties without asking for any help, I was told if I needed to communicate with my three colleagues, it had to be through email only.

I naively signed it; I wanted to prove my coworkers wrong. During my 1 month Performance Improvement Plan, I was written up for very petty things. I was written up for not understanding my tasks when I asked for a quick clarification on a particular expense and whether it was considered billable under a particular gov’t contract. I was also written up for not following orders/unable to do my job when I noticed something unusual about a payment remittance meant for a government contract coding. I brought it up to “E”, he told me to come back later he was “tired”. Moments later the Accounting Controller stormed into my office and yelled at me for not being able to do my job. “E” looked into the case, I was right, the payment remittance coding was not correct. There was no apology.

I failed my Performance Improvement Plan and was fired. I found a new job 2 months later, which is still my current job. In my current job I was given step by step instructions how to do my job, no one asked me if I had autism or made any other unwarranted advice/criticism about me.

Was my previous job a toxic workplace? They simply hired they wrong guy?
Was I in the wrong job?

What do you guys think?