General Forum - My job is so depressing :-( - Page 1

My sympathies, Skirpy, but other than looking for a new job I'd say there's not a lot you can do, really. Unless you apply yourself to the old game of making friends and influencing people.

Is the spectre of nepotism that bad? I once did a week in the civil service in the post room. I'd been taken on while the EO was on her holidays because of my IT skills (it was 1995). The job involved picking up sheets from all over the site and entering the data into a Lotus 123 spreadsheet. It was a full-time job, trudging all over the site and then keying all this crap in. Then the EO got back from her holidays, took one look at me and started giving me dozens of other chores like sorting mail and the like because the job I'd been doing was "only a small part of what I was being employed to do". Nice of the people who hired me to tell me. By the end of the week, the EO collared me and told me I wasn't pulling my weight so I should shape up or ship out. "I'll ship out, thanks," I said and walked out. Then I made a stink about I suspected nepotism back at the job centre and they didn't get stroppy with me about the job only lasting a week.

I'd give the iPod a rest. Wander off on your teabreak and find if anybody will talk to you. It might just be nobody's broken the ice. On the other hand they may all be complete bastards - I've known places like that myself.

Forgive me asking, but what sort of work is it?

J Mark Oates
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it does sound bad, but unfortunately you're not helping yourself, Marks's suggestion is good, otherwise you'll just be "the weird new guy who doesn't speak to anyone, just sits on his own listening to his ipod"

Quote:
Mark Oates says...
Forgive me asking, but what sort of work is it?My job title is a machine setter, but it's turned out more than that, usually a machine setter would set up  machines then machine operators would run them through the shift but i have to do both along with hourly quality control checks.

I don't mind the work it's just the atmosphere in the place.

Quote:
admars says...
t does sound bad, but unfortunately you're not helping yourself, Marks's suggestion is good, otherwise you'll just be "the weird new guy who doesn't speak to anyone, just sits on his own listening to his ipod"
I started doing this because apart from the one group of people who sit together at teabreak who i mentioned, there is about another 6-7 people who sit themselves and don't speak, there is no time to chat during working hours as its non stop work with no spare time for nothing, going for a teabreak means that i need to catch up when i get back because nothing stops in the place.

I mentioned in a previous post that my jacket and valuables were stolen on my second week there so i don't know who i'm working with.

Just need to stick it to something else comes up....still better than being jobless i suppose.

Cheers.

Sounds like that place needs someone to kick off a social revolution, and get people talking to each other and not treating it like a London tube train to work.

That person is you!

I bet a lot of people there just don't know how to break the ice, and even the most miserable ones are just not equipped for a social whirl.

Some suggestions for ice breakers:

1) What have you got in your sandwiches today?

Great one to start with, everyone eats, everyone has food in common.


2) Say, does anyone know how to pat-a-cake?

Saw it in a film once, ideal thing to announce to any room during an awkward moment.


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Quote:
Rob Shepherd says...
Sounds like that place needs someone to kick off a social revolution, and get people talking to each other and not treating it like a London tube train to work.That's exactly what it's like! I had to travel to London a few years back and used the underground to get about.....people just staring into space, i felt so uncomfortable.

Quote:
Rob Shepherd says...
2) Say, does anyone know how to pat-a-cake?I think i would be getting handed my coat if i said that

The only other option would be to start smoking again and hang about outside with them, they seem a bit more talkative.

Quote:
skirpy says...
The only other option would be to start smoking again and hang about outside with them, they seem a bit more talkative.Heh, cancer, heck of a way to have something to talk about.

I think smokers learn how to be talkative because they have the exile, freezing cold, and need to bum a light in common.


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Skirpy, your describing (almost exactly) a place where i used to work a few years ago. I was an Injection Moulding machine operator. Each shift had around 20 machines being ran by 10 operators (who also had to do the quality control from each machine every hour), 4-5 Setters to switch the tools and set the machines and 1 cleaner. The noise of the machines made it impossible to have a conversation with anyone untill break time where the cleaner was everyones mate but the setters and operators never really mingled except the ones who smoked obviously.

Breaking the ice with someone who does the same job or similar is always gonna be easier because you know you have some sort of common ground. I'd definately lose the ipod for a couple of days though. No one wants to disturb a guy with headphones anymore than the guy wearing them wants to be disturbed.

The smoking angle could work, you stand outside because you like the smell even though you quit, someone is bound to talk to you or ask you about it, smokers are generally more sociable as someone already said. Then before you know it your back inside having a conversation with him and his mate, who also doesn't smoke.

Good luck though mate, there is nothing worse than being stuck in a job that is uncomfortable or awkward.

Regards
Bryan

enemyonpc, that sounds like the same place i work!

I am lucky that i have a very low mortgage.....i bought my parents home over 10 years ago and my latest statement tells me i have 16K left to pay.

Tonight, i have been adding up the price of all my AV equipment and gadgets.....i am thinking of selling everything to get out of this job so i can concentrate on things i have an interest in but i can only get about half way.

Start again tomorrow morning and i am in a total downer.

Should have bought more expensive AV equipment.

Your lucky you get a teabreak !

I worked in white collar engineering consultancies for years before going self employed, and was told to get my tea and get back to my desk to continue working. No newspaper reading allowed like I used to get when working on the tools.

If I ever moved across to talk with anyone, the section leaders would be upon me telling me to get back to my desk and work.

The moral of this. is that there is always someone else in a job with worse conditions than yourself.

My way out of this regimentation, to stop me going nuts, was going self employed.

You will either have to try and get on with your 'buddies' and aleviate the lousy situation you are in or decide ASAP on some other place to work.