Negative thinking in new job when faced with new challenges

I’d ask if they could show you samples or give you more guidance. I’d not tell them it’s unreasonable as I am sure they think it’s a reasonable task. I’d just tell them you need some help with it

I took the project as far as I could take it. I handed it in, saying the same. I completed all of one aspect of it, and had to leave the second aspect incomplete. I was told I could complete the first aspect first and that we could come back to the second aspect.

Now I’m concerned I will be fired. But I really did the best I could with it. The second aspect I would have simply been guessing at, and it likely it would be wrong. Why hand in something that’s wrong, so I said I took it as far as I could.

I also found out that a good friend of mine died this week. I am not thinking straight and am not myself.

I'm really sorry for your loss.

Thanks, Bill! He was a local favorite musician and friend. It’s a sad day indeed.

i'm so sorry about your friend, Have Hope

Thanks so much… what a crap day it’s been!

WOW. I still cannot believe that my friend died. He was hiking in Nepal to Everest Base Camp. He died before reaching Base Camp of likely a combination of factors including altitude sickness, lung infection and high blood pressure.

I barely made it through work yesterday as a result. I wanted to call in sick., but then thought better of it. I made it through the day, but had to go to bed super early.

And today I just feel numb.

Still NO word from that company - I wonder what's going on? It's been over a week now, and I've heard nothing. I can assume they're still interviewing, and now I feel it's most likely the case that I am not being offered the job. This of course, makes me feel very despondent because that means I have to suffer through in my current job for quite some time still.

I took the rest of today off. My boss said it was OK.

Ok I think I’m getting ghosted by this company. I don’t know what else to think! I’m not going to email them. It’s really strange.

I wasn’t ghosted. I emailed the recruiter anyways. She said I’ll know by the end of next week. Still no rejection so that’s good at least.

That impossible task I was given? I asked for guidance, never received guidance, and it's been handed back to me to complete in even greater detail. I am categorizing over 3,000 blog articles into 3 different categories, the third category being the most specific. There are several hundred blog articles that I cannot correctly categorize because I do not know the client's products or terminology to do so. I am pissed that this task has been handed back to me, after I told them that I had taken it as far as I could. Now what do I do? Leave the ones I cannot complete blank? That's what I am going to have to do. I have no other choice, if they're not going to provide more guidance and direction.

I handed it In with 800 rows blank and I was told to guess the category. So I completely and blindly guessed!! How ridiculous is this. I am sure I am wrong with 99% of those 800, and we’re giving it to the client that way. I am beginning to not like this company. What a bogus task!!!

I am tired of doing menial tasks at my job. I have asked for more responsibility, and more than once, in my weekly online reviews with my boss. He hasn't followed up with me about taking on one of his clients. He hasn't followed up with me on taking ANY clients. I want client work now. I am well enough to do it now. AND, I need something on my resume for when I can leave this job. I need to have feathers under my cap showing that I've done something of value. This menial work I am doing is not of value and it doesn't contribute to the overall success of a client's account. I am just doing filler work because I became ill. And it could hurt my chances of getting another job. I am becoming concerned about my direction in my career at this point. I am going nowhere & it's concerning.

WOW - just WOW. I am in shock.

I was just handed back my 45-day review from my boss, in writing, and it's pretty negative. He wrote that I am not meeting the expectations of a Manager, in essence, and then criticized me throughout the review on a few tasks he highlighted as being problematic to the company. He didn't include anything about one huge task I had completed that I had done well and to the company's satisfaction! He only focused on what I had trouble with.

AND, he pointed out that I had pushed back on a task that I had been uncomfortable doing. Initially, when given this task, he had written to me "if you feel comfortable rewriting these...:" and I told him that I didn't feel comfortable with it. But instead of including that part in his review, he said I pushed back on the task.

You know what this is? It's a set up to fire me, I feel. They are documenting it in writing that I am not meeting their expectations, and I am FUMING right now. I try really hard at work to do the best job that I can - but when they give me impossible tasks that are beyond my skill level, what am I supposed to do?????? It's a set up for failure, is what that is.

What a way to make me feel even more uncomfortable now at work. I know they're just trying to get rid of me at this point. It's now in black and white writing. So, just fire me then and let me collect unemployment!

I am FUMING!!!!

Well, I stood up for myself and pushed back in my review meeting. Then I documented in writing to the new HR person everything I had stated in the meeting that involved standing up for myself. I am NOT going to be pushed around AGAIN at work!

Yay Have Hope, hopefully they will listen to you

Thank you @willowtigger.

HR is not on the employee's side, unfortunately. What companies listen to are the words of managers, I've learned. And that's what matters the most, above and beyond what I have to say. So I don't think it will make any difference what I said.

I feel depressed.

It makes difference if you have tangible evidence that you can present to argue over a bad review. Like if they said you turned a project two days late but you have a time stamp that shows it was on time. If there is no tangible evidence or artifact proving otherwise, they won’t change a review. Unfortunately just saying something it’s not likely to make a difference.

We are allowed to argue over all and every points in a review but you have to demonstrate something that contradicts what’s on a review. Examples, evidence, artifacts. Otherwise they’ll let you argue and send you on
your merry way. They won’t change anything. You could put together a list of tangible things you did well and send them

I did do that after my formal review to HR. I sent them my examples of work done well, and stated that my review was mainly negatives and criticisms, and did not point out what I do well.