A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:Dear all,I'm a recent grad who began my new office job in July and I'm very overwhelmed. I'd truly appreciate your advice. I work in a freight forwarder for a major ocean exporter. My job is mainly to discuss rates with carriers and review contracts. I also update the rate book. I also do basic assistant work for my manager like send our suppliers holiday gifts. It's a small company. I'm the only one in my department plus my manager who does some of everything. There is one person who books shipments and several in documentation.Recently port congestion has become very bad; it's one of the worst market conditions my manager has seen in her 20 years. Thus vessel schedules are constantly changing and we need to book the same shipment 4-5 times. The booking person has been working major overtime and we recently hired another person for booking also. I'm also doing booking part time, based on little training, on top of my work. (Resulting in slow progress and mistakes). My dept happens to be very busy as well, but also handling bookings has forced me to work overtime for several hours daily. I'm very tired. Everything is urgent and I cannot finish my own tasks the same as before, and even the manager has commented on that. We had a small chat, and I said I don't know what to do first because everything is urgent. She told me what things can be done first and which ones later but realistically I have TOO many assignments that require my immediate attention all the time. I've been dealing with it knowing it's not the norm and things will get better. However I felt very upset today when both booking dept persons left on time and I was left working overtime. Since I am handling bookings during the day, I need to update the rate book in the evening. There are thousands of rates that need to be updated because of a "general rate increase" all our shippers are imposing in January. This is done manually in Excel which on its own, drives me nuts! Annual evaluations are coming up and I don't know what's going to happen. I'm making mistakes despite double checking. I am very overloaded. I hate that everyone's depending on me for different things but I'm not presenting my best quality because I just CAN'T. They must know it's because there's too much going on... But they still expect the same. I used to love this job but now I can't stand it.What do I do? My manager works overtime constantly already so I'm not sure she understands. She says it's ok to claim as much overtime as I want but I DON'T want to. I'm always hungry and my back hurts. My quality of life is very poor now. Thank you all.
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male
reader, no nonsense Aidan  +, writes (29 December 2014):
I think the previous poster has given you excellent advice here. You need to emphasise that things have changed, that your previous enjoyment of the job is dwindling and that the workload is having an unacceptable impact on your quality of life, and your ability to perform at your best. I suspect your manager doesn’t really have the answers straight away, or has other things to deal with, so this should prompt them to give it more thought if they are aware how unhappy you are and that you’re questioning whether you can continue in the role. I also agree with the previous poster that an annual evaluation isn’t appropriate for this conversation but that it should happen before this annual review. When I was a manager in the past, I had training on how to conduct evaluations, and one thing we were taught loud and clear is that the annual evaluation or appraisal should come with no surprises for employee or manager, but that it should formally agree objectives and a development plan based on the understanding you’ve both built up about how things are going.
You will need to push this and ask your manager to set time aside to discuss your work and concerns you have, otherwise it won’t happen. In these situations it’s always a good idea to at least show that moving on is an option you would be willing to consider, even if it’s as subtle as saying “I wouldn’t want to consider other options yet if I can avoid it but there are real concerns…” Show you mean business, show that you have confidence that there are things about the way the company’s operating that are contributing to your problems. It’s also a good idea to use these conversations to ask for feedback. The job I am currently in, which I am to leave in the new year, is a difficult one, with too high a level of expectations for one person and no paid overtime (I’ve been doing it without pay). I have regularly complained about it, but always ask my manager for their feedback, and suggestions for things I could do differently to help the situation. This challenges them, particularly if you then ask how this could be achieved against the time constraints and workload you’re working to. It also shows you’re not just avoiding taking any responsibility for your own performance by blaming a difficult external environment. These things have served me well in difficult and at times overwhelming jobs, and I hope they will do for you too.
If things feel wrong or unfair, you’ve got to say. Your manager is responsible for supporting you and has to be aware of how you feel to do that.
I wish you all the very best.
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (27 December 2014): Although you value you job this is time to stand up for yourself and make you feelings known in a professional way.
I would ask to book a meeting with the manager before the review. Prepare every point you want to run through by typing it up or writing it down. You explain that with the additional tasks you are not giving them your best and you are losing your quality of life due to being over worked. Note that you appreciate the trust in submitting all the over time you do, but you do not want to be working overtime so regularly and that actually they might need to consider another employee, maybe part time, to build up the bookings dept so you can concentrate on your own tasks. Tell them honestly that you loved the job but currently, you are on the verge of finding something else simply because they are over working you rather than allowing you to focus on what you were initially employed to do. Talk about how you have watched others leave on time, but you are sat at your desk for another couple of hors because you have eased their workload but doubled your own by doing so.
As a small employer I doubt they will want to lose you so you need to be honest about the demands they are placing on you. If you talk professionally and honestly and reinforce that you do love working for them but they are running you into the ground they should make changes. If you can't make an appointment prior to the annual review then you prepare what you want to say for that and use that time for them to hear you out.
Lots of people new in jobs are afraid to say when things gets tough, but they wanted you to work for them over other applicants and so you should feel confident to say when they are pushing you too far. You could go and find another job within a few months, which means they would lose you and if they want to prevent that they should honour your concerns by finding a solution. If you can help by suggestions solutions it will be even better.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (27 December 2014): Hi all,
Just to clarify this isn't really about my annual evaluations. I'm just overwhelmed about work in general and would like advice. Thanks!
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