I am fed up with the lack of support I receive, but don’t know what else I could do
I’ve worked in the voluntary/public sector since graduating in 2007. I am a social worker in mental health, and over the years have learned what is important to me about my job: work-life balance (flexitime and not bringing work home); competent, friendly colleagues; good management and structure; clear processes; good team dynamics; and a professional, pleasant and aesthetically pleasing environment. Not too much to ask for, surely!
But I am fed up with the ongoing challenges I face at work: we have to pay for parking permits, although we have to go out on home visits, and aren’t guaranteed a parking space; no therapeutic resources are provided, so I buy them myself; IT and equipment regularly break; loo paper runs out in the toilets for visitors; the building needs demolishing … I could go on.
I have been keeping my eye out for jobs over the past year or so and have applied for a couple unsuccessfully. I would appreciate some ideas of how to gain a better view of what I want to do, and what would be feasible. I like the idea of retraining but can’t really afford it, and have invested a lot of time and my own money in my career.
Jeremy says
I’ve read your letter several times and am still uncertain about something. Please don’t take this as a criticism, but I find it difficult to tell whether or not you get pleasure and satisfaction from the job you do.
I can easily see why you’re as fed up as you are with your circumstances. It’s clearly a demanding and sometimes stressful job, yet your employers seem to provide you with little if anything in the way of support: from adequate IT back-up to free and guaranteed parking. You list all the things about a place of work that are important to you – but make no reference to the nature of the work itself. And when you mention retraining, you give no hint of the sort of direction you might like that to take.
I might be wrong, but I get the impression that since 2007 you’ve been doing jobs because you need to earn a living rather than – in part, at least – because you get satisfaction from them. If true, this makes your appeal for “some ideas of how to gain a better view of what I want to do” all the more open-ended – and difficult to provide.
The best I can do is suggest that you forget – for the moment, anyway – what is feasible. It’s high time you found a job you look forward to doing for its own sake – even if the amenities aren’t always up to scratch. You have a degree, valuable experience – and clearly a lively mind. Let that mind range freely. What might your dream job be? Which of your friends have jobs you envy – and not just because of the parking space? When you’ve homed in on something – and only you can know what that something is – pursue it relentlessly.
Readers say
• Write down all the things you can do, and then look on the web for the businesses that are looking for those skills. Quite often companies will look for a range of skills and experiences in candidates. Skills and experience that you and colleagues may dismiss as unimportant may be what other employers are looking for. bailliegillies
• You do not mention your clients. Do you still like working for them, and would you continue to help them if the circumstances were better? If the answer is yes, then find a better organisation to work for. If you are unsure, the book What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles can help you figure out what you want, what kind of work would make you happy, and how to find those jobs. Aranzazu
• I have worked in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Private was exciting but unforgiving – redundancies every two years with restructures. Public was driven by dumb central government targets that meant nothing to the service users/customers – you couldn’t see what the point was if it wasn’t to satisfy a customer. NFP was a good balance but the pay was worse. I’m not sure you will find everything you are looking for, so concentrate on what is important to you – but don’t expect to get it all. Monstink
No pay rise in sight despite increased responsibilities. Should I ask for more cash?
I have taken on a lot of extra responsibility at the request of my manager, but am not to receive a salary increase. I was hired as a media relations manager working to a director, whose post was then dissolved by the new CEO. I was asked to take on some of the responsibilities of this director and sit on the organisation’s management board.
For the past six months I have had considerably more responsibility than when I joined the organisation almost a year ago, including managing a larger team, presenting budgets and strategies to our board of governance, and significant out-of-hours on-call duty.
At my recent appraisal my work had glowing feedback, and it was acknowledged I did far more than what was originally in my job description – but I was told I would not get a pay increase until next year after I had “proved myself”. I had just asked if my wage would be reviewed in light of this extra work – I hadn’t demanded a figure.
I am the youngest member of the board. Should I be seeing this extra responsibility as wonderful experience at this stage in my career, or should I be pushing for a raise? I can’t help but feel short-changed and underappreciated, and I’m wondering how they would treat me if I was male.
Jeremy says
You are right to feel short-changed and underappreciated – but try not to let that suspicion of gender discrimination bug you. You will never know how the board would be treating you if you were male – they probably don’t know themselves – and you won’t advance your cause by even hinting at this. You have a strong enough case as it stands.
Use the upcoming anniversary of your joining the company to return to your request for an adjustment to your salary. Make it in writing and make it factual and detailed. Contrast the responsibilities you were hired to undertake with those you are now shouldering. Say that you are grateful for the faith they’ve shown in you and how much you’re relishing the demands of your expanded range of duties. But that you find it slightly bewildering and quite demotivating that their stated faith hasn’t been demonstrated by an increase in salary.
Don’t resort to threats, however implicit, and don’t exhibit anything but certainty and determination. They won’t want to lose your sense of commitment.
Readers say
• The line between a company “taking the piss” and “wanting to be sure they’ve got a good ’un” is sometimes a fine one, and only you can really judge when it’s been crossed. DeputyPeck
• First priority, get experience. Second priority, get money. The money will come from the experience in due course. Borgia
• Nope. First priority, get fair pay. Second priority, continue to get fair pay. ThisWorld79
• Ask them to for a fixed-term trial at an increased salary. If they refuse, use your new experience to find a new job that will reward your contributions. steed82
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
