STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

kenzie · Chanel

bait & switch. unbelievable (and exhausted)

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

Jeez, Kenzie. I am so sorry. You don't deserve to deal with a job like this at all, and certainly not 2, 3, 4 times! I swear. For every good boss story I hear, I hear 9 bad ones.

Because you got this gig through an agency, They need to know. As for when to tell them (now, upon exit, some other time), I'm not sure. If you could swing not having a job earlier than you expected, you could take the risk of mentioning it now. Of course, this is an exercise in making it better for the next person. I don't think it will help your current situation.

Again, sorry, Kenzie. I wish you the best in your job search. In the meantime, can you schedule a series of massages, do some mindfulness/meditation, and/or other relaxing activities?

Suasoria · Chanel

kenzie wrote:
I'm wondering if I should contact the agency I work for and ask for a reassignment or something, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not. Anyway, thanks for listening.

What would be the downside of this - assuming the agency keeps it confidential?

Boots · Gucci

Suasoria wrote:
kenzie wrote:
I'm wondering if I should contact the agency I work for and ask for a reassignment or something, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not. Anyway, thanks for listening.

What would be the downside of this - assuming the agency keeps it confidential?

Exactly. They may have a different job open that might be a better fit for you. If you're a subcontractor, I'm assuming that you signed a contract. Does the contract state exactly what your duties are supposed to be? That may help you.

kenzie · Chanel

Boots wrote:
Suasoria wrote:
kenzie wrote:
I'm wondering if I should contact the agency I work for and ask for a reassignment or something, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not. Anyway, thanks for listening.

What would be the downside of this - assuming the agency keeps it confidential?
Exactly. They may have a different job open that might be a better fit for you. If you're a subcontractor, I'm assuming that you signed a contract. Does the contract state exactly what your duties are supposed to be? That may help you.

I'm not sure if there is a downside. I guess I'm concerned that they'll restructure my payscale so I make less or something. Or that they won't keep it confidential. I've never been a contractor before, so this is all new to me here. Is the agency required to keep it confidential (I don't remember anything about that in the paperwork).

I signed employment paperwork, but not a contract that states length of service or anything like that. I did have a job description then, though, and it states what my duties are actually supposed to be.

From talking to other contractors, everyone seems to just shut up and deal with it while they quietly look for other employment. No one says anything to the agency. It just seems weird- an army of miserable contractors and no one ever says anything.

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

I would give the agency a heads up. On one hand, it may make you seem like a "trouble" contractor but on the other hand, they are more concerned with keeping their fees flowing in. If they break confidentiality, they'd lose the account. They should know better than that.

kenzie · Chanel

XtinaStyles wrote:
I would give the agency a heads up. On one hand, it may make you seem like a "trouble" contractor but on the other hand, they are more concerned with keeping their fees flowing in. If they break confidentiality, they'd lose the account. They should know better than that.

I contacted the agency and they responded with an e-mail that CC'd someone at the company I'm working at. Not sure who since this company is so huge, but I'm guessing the HR recruiter person. So much for confidentiality.

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

wtf? I'm speechless.

kenzie · Chanel

Oh, and now they scheduled a meeting with me, the agency contact, and the HR person to review my first 90 days. WTF is right pollyjean23.

Boots · Gucci

kenzie wrote:
Oh, and now they scheduled a meeting with me, the agency contact, and the HR person to review my first 90 days. WTF is right pollyjean23.

I'm sure that you relaize this already, but bring in your job description paperwork and a list of all the actual work/projects that you've been given Write it all out. It'll make you look more like an organized eager worker as opposed to the complaining employee that I'm sure they'll try to make you out to be. I doubt that this meeting was sceduled to benefit you, right?

kenzie · Chanel

Boots wrote:
kenzie wrote:
Oh, and now they scheduled a meeting with me, the agency contact, and the HR person to review my first 90 days. WTF is right pollyjean23.
I'm sure that you relaize this already, but bring in your job description paperwork and a list of all the actual work/projects that you've been given Write it all out. It'll make you look more like an organized eager worker as opposed to the complaining employee that I'm sure they'll try to make you out to be. I doubt that this meeting was sceduled to benefit you, right?

Not sure. The agency made it sound like it was in their e-mail to me (asked if I wanted to discuss it further with them or if I wanted them to talk to my manager). I told them I'd like to discuss it with them, so they called this meeting and included HR.

I will definitely bring all of the information I possibly can. I really feel like this is going to end up screwing me over with some drastic pay cut or something.

I should note that I didn't make any mention of my boss's behavior. I just mentioned that I was concerned by the drastic change in my job description and felt I could be contributing much more based on what my job was supposed to be.

-- Edited by kenzie on Thursday 6th of October 2011 02:18:43 PM

Suasoria · Chanel

I think this is good news. HR needs to protect its human resources, after all, and that's you.

Your strategy is solid - don't make it a complaint about the boss. Maybe talk about the work you're contracted to do that is being given to interns, and express your concern that if these job duties are not completed appropriately you don't want it reflecting on you or your record.

Also bring in your resume/CV etc. and if you feel things are going well in the meeting, mention there is some confusion about your qualifications and background and even age, so perhaps there's been an honest mistake and you've been mixed up with another contractor.

NCshopper · Hermes

Suasoria wrote:
I think this is good news. HR needs to protect its human resources, after all, and that's you.

Your strategy is solid - don't make it a complaint about the boss. Maybe talk about the work you're contracted to do that is being given to interns, and express your concern that if these job duties are not completed appropriately you don't want it reflecting on you or your record.

Also bring in your resume/CV etc. and if you feel things are going well in the meeting, mention there is some confusion about your qualifications and background and even age, so perhaps there's been an honest mistake and you've been mixed up with another contractor.

Ditto. Make this about the job and the responsibilities--if at all possible, don't bring up the boss. I just think that may hurt more than help you and make you seem like a complaining employee, rather than someone who just wants to do a good job.

Not to be pessimistic, but I don't feel like this meeting is going to result in an actual, lasting change at this company. I hope I'm wrong, but if/when you find yourself back in the same position again, I'd contact your agency and ask to keep the job (to keep the pay coming in) until they find another job for you.

Sorry you're going through this yet again.

kenzie · Chanel

NCshopper wrote:
Suasoria wrote:
I think this is good news. HR needs to protect its human resources, after all, and that's you.

Your strategy is solid - don't make it a complaint about the boss. Maybe talk about the work you're contracted to do that is being given to interns, and express your concern that if these job duties are not completed appropriately you don't want it reflecting on you or your record.

Also bring in your resume/CV etc. and if you feel things are going well in the meeting, mention there is some confusion about your qualifications and background and even age, so perhaps there's been an honest mistake and you've been mixed up with another contractor.
Ditto. Make this about the job and the responsibilities--if at all possible, don't bring up the boss. I just think that may hurt more than help you and make you seem like a complaining employee, rather than someone who just wants to do a good job.
Not to be pessimistic, but I don't feel like this meeting is going to result in an actual, lasting change at this company. I hope I'm wrong, but if/when you find yourself back in the same position again, I'd contact your agency and ask to keep the job (to keep the pay coming in) until they find another job for you.
Sorry you're going through this yet again.

To be honest, I don't think the meeting is going to change anything with this particular job under this particular manager, either. I think it will just alert them to the fact that I'd like a new position that better fits my skills. I do plan to tell them that I'll stay here while they find a new position for me, and should there be one available right away, I will volunteer to stay on at the current one for the next few weeks to get them through phase one of the project.

The company I'm assigned to is huge and there are tons of other opportunities. It's just a matter of moving into one, which is generally a difficult thing to do, especially for contractors.

kenzie · Chanel

So I had my meeting today with the agency and with the person who is the liason here between the agency and the company (she works for the company not the agency). They are furious with and baffled by the change in my job description and they are elevating the issue to the Sr. Director who is on the project (and who is not aware of the changes).

They won't change my payscale (they can't for whatever reason, even though I'm ridiculously overpaid for what I'm actually doing), and they are going to approach the issue with the stance that I am here with a lot more to offer than administrative duties and that they hired me for strategy work not admin work, and they will remind them that they paying me at the strategy level not the admin level. They will give them the option of changing my job back to what it was supposed to be or keeping it the way it is now at the same pay. If they do the latter, they will start looking for a different position for me.

They also said that there are assistants here and they should not be dumping their work on me (apparently, there is a huge problem with this particular group of assistants thinking they don't have to do their jobs). Awesomeness. I still don't expect change but at least someone agreed with me that this is a problem and it's not all in my head.

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

So glad to hear you have someone on your side. I like the fact that your manager has two options, and that's it. Best wishes for a speedy and positive resolution.

Suasoria · Chanel

Well that sounds really positive, considering!

Hermes

So glad you have the support of the agency and liaison! Hang in there -- sounds like things will work out one way or the other.