Performance Review at Work... am I in the Wrong Field?

Like nashco, I moved around a lot over 30 years of work (MD, PA, ME, NJ, WA) and changed industries several times. Now I'm happy with what I do and get good reviews. When you enjoy what you do, the good reviews will happen.

Jack

It's tough in today's job market to find a good paying job that doesn't burn you out with paperwork, reports and meetings. They are "comfy" jobs, allowing you to work long hours due to less physical stress, but they just kill you after a few years.

Now granted, I'm just in college. I'd like to get into a planning/zoning/GIS related field, but I'm hoping with my Environmental Geography Degree, it'll allow me something getting outside.

I really don't think I could handle a job where I never got out of the office, or I never saw the product of my hard work.

At the same time, i've done labor jobs like packaging, mechanical/car related jobs, and computer related jobs. None of them thrilled me much. I felt like I was too forced to "get it out the door".

93celicaGT2 wrote: I just got a great performance review with another small raise, my third since working here. And i still hate my job with a passion to the point that it ruins a lot of my outside life. But i can't afford any pay cuts. Awesome situation.

1. Welcome to working full-time.

2. Golden handcuffs.

"Welcome to working full time" is the answer to all of the posts.

Here's a hint, there are very few jobs that allow you to: seldom work, seldom work hard, and seldom work well that last very long or are worth doing.

I have nothing to add here other than a story about my own performance reviews

I am a caddy, the highest level caddy that we have at my course. We get paid a ridiculous amount of money, and aren't allowed to get tipped. To make sure that we don't slack off because we don't get tipped, the members rate us at the end on a scale of 1-10, and if our average falls below a 9, we are demoted. Recently I had a string of 13 10's in a row, followed by a 4. I don't get 4's. I went and looked who it was, looked up his score for the day, and sure enough, the man shot a 111. And took it out on the caddy (I can only read the put, I can't help it if you hit it 12 feet past the hole).

Wow, I can't believe I just wrote that much, I guess I'm still flyin high from the Willie concert I just got back from

Nomad wrote: Here's a hint, there are very few jobs that allow you to: seldom work, seldom work hard, and seldom work well that last very long or are worth doing.

I agree, there can only be so many politicians.

Bryce

Nashco wrote:

Nomad wrote: Here's a hint, there are very few jobs that allow you to: seldom work, seldom work hard, and seldom work well that last very long or are worth doing.

I agree, there can only be so many politicians. Bryce

truer than you can possibly imagine! salinas, take the rough review with a grain of salt and remember that ten years from now no one will know or care about it, as long as you play it cool. make an honest effort to give your employer what they want, and make sure that you know what they realy do want, which may be totaly different than what is actual best practice,or what your supervisor says to do. I am a firm beliver in"those that can, do; and those that can't supervise". A decent & humble supervisor who recognized his own limitations, and always gave credit for sucses to his crew, tought me that over ten years ago, and I've seen it prove true many times. Supervisors like that are the exception in my exprience. My current boss could use some of that humility, he is not a bad guy, but he got where he is because his dad owns the place, and he is a strictly top down thinker. He knows far less about what makes the company sucsesfull than he thinks he does. One thing that I agree with him about is his definition of professionalism: "the ability to do your best level of work consistantly, even when you are not personaly motivated by the project". With this in mind, my advice is if the projects (or something else) consistantly don't motivate you, its time to do something else, possibly somewhere else... keep your ear to the ground and keep your resume up to date! (I'm redoing mine this week) ps. in my field the technicians have a saying "we are like base ball players, the game is the same everywhere, the uniforms just change colors". I am ready for an uptrade too

I agree with what most have said. If you are not happy with your current situation start looking for something more in your expertise that you can be happy with and you know you will work hard for, but at no time mention to your current employer that you are looking.

Too many bosses can take that the wrong way and turn the tables on you. Making your job harder, passing around rumors about you to other people. I wouldn't mention it to any of your co-workers either unless they are good friends of yours' (that you know will not go to the boss and tell). That can also turn on you, as then the co-worker who ratted you out to your boss.

I believe you should enjoy your job, if you don't your performance, energy, and stress will show through. Hampering your performance at work.

But as others have said while you are looking for a job, make sure to fix the problems during your performance review. That will look good to your boss and in the long run may help you get a better job as at least you tried to make yourself better in the eyes of your boss.

I sold out to purchasing from product development engineer in Feb..... More money, but I hate the position. Purchasing folks, at my job atleast, are lazy bums who couldn't take the rigors of engineering and left. So, I started looking slowly. I got one opportunity on the rise in 2 weeks. Gotta get on a plane to talk.... we'll see.

Well I don't think that he is looking for a job where he doesn't have to work hard, I don't believe that all.......you bunch of slackers!!!!!

In fact, I love going into work and having to kick ass!! If I could just screw off and not be challenged, I would already be bored. In a matter of 6 months, I've gone from the low man on the totem pole to number 2 behind the boss and the Style Editor and in charge of CD's and DVD's and my boss is constantly stroking me to stay (I'm contract labor)

I think alot of us dream of having slack off jobs, but if we actually had them we would be very bored!!!!!

Nashco wrote:

Nomad wrote: Here's a hint, there are very few jobs that allow you to: seldom work, seldom work hard, and seldom work well that last very long or are worth doing.

I agree, there can only be so many politicians. Bryce

State senate is the place to be. Starting pay at 65K or more(depening on state)5k for each comitte you are on. And you only work 4 days a week for half the year(at least in NY, but it took us 20+ years to pass a budget on time)

To respond to a few things:

I generally enjoy my job. The company is good. The office is good. I genuinely like my boss. He is one of the two best bosses I've ever had. He actually gets his hands dirty, knows his stuff, acts as a buffer between me and superiors/clients.

I'm not looking for a job where I can slack off. I'm looking for a job where I'm not forcing myself to be interested in the tasks I'm doing.

My lackluster review is my fault. I'm not down in the dumps about it. It just highlighted to me the fact that, I'm not overly motivated by a lot of the consulting work. I am motivated to do technical problem solving. I've enjoyed the challenge of those tasks, and that has shown in my quality of work.

But the company is such that there isn't an opportunity for me to shift into a position where I could work full-time in that capacity.

I'm lucky because right now, there's an organization that has a relationship with my current company. The position is similar to what I'm doing now, but with the primary focus being on the technical communications (web management) aspect. So, I'm pulling together my resume and freshening up a web page I built. I'll drop off a resume on Monday or Tuesday (the office for this organization is 6 blocks from where I work now).

(Edit: I do have a friend who has that job where he gets to goof off most of the time. He does desktop support for a state office. I'm certainly in the right city if I want to do state gov't bullE36 M3. Having had one politician in the family, I'm not too motivated to get into that though. Doesn't help that I'm not rich.)

I'm not looking for a job where I can slack off. I'm looking for a job where I'm not forcing myself to be interested in the tasks I'm doing.

My 2nd job of course I love not only because the 2 TaeKwon-Do Schools are mine but because I love teaching. I find it fun, rewarding and I'm honored to be their instructor.

careful there. i'd have a back up plan in case someone at the place you are submitting to sends word back to your current employer that you're shopping around. how close is the relationship between the two companies?

bluej wrote: careful there. i'd have a back up plan in case someone at the place you are submitting to sends word back to your current employer that you're shopping around. how close is the relationship between the two companies?

Not especially close. They host a conference twice a year that we send people to attend (along with a bunch of other organizations across the state). Our company has a membership with them that allows us to have access to some of their collected resources.

We spend a great deal of our life at work. If you really don't enjoy it, you're in the wrong job. You're young and unless you hit it big in Vegas, are going to be working a long time. Find out what you like and then do it. Just remember, sometimes the grass isn't greener.

Salanis,

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the fact that you sure do seem to spend a lot of time posting on message boards. Performance shmormance, I'd have fired your ass by now.

poopshovel wrote: Salanis, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the fact that you sure do seem to spend a lot of time posting on message boards. Performance shmormance, I'd have fired your ass by now.

HAHAHA LOL!

Heheh. Probably more evidence that I should look for a job I'm less apathetic about.

Pay close attention to what Littleturquoiseb said, real close.

Do everything you can to fix your performance in this job and start a search for a better match. It could take you a year, and you want to fix the reviews in the current job.

What John Brown said about reviews seeming harsh in the first years of your career is wrong. It may help you feel better, but accepting it could put you on the street and now is not a good time for that.

Thanks scottgib, All that has been noted. I'm working on the detail stuff. It has always been a weakness of mine.

I'm not packing and running from my current job. I'm actually trying to correct the problems identified and do better work. However, I have decided that I can find a job that is a better match for my skills and interests, so I am keeping my eyes open for that. I'm not rushing into a new job though. I'm taking the time to be selective.

You've got the right attitude to succeed in life.