h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So what do I get? 3% What a joke!!!!!!



It was only a few weeks ago when we found out that a member of staff was leaving and everyone thought I would get that job.....I didn't. The reason being "I was the best person they had ever had in the general office and they didn't want to lose me from there".

What a joke!!!!!!!!! If this was the case, then surely I would have seen it in my salary review? SURELY!!!!!

Bl**dy typical....you work for an accountants, and you get peanuts for a salary


So what does my job entail......would you all like to know? Well, here it is anyway.

General maintenance of the reception area (ie telephones and door)

Typing (copy and audio) of letters, etc blah blah blah.....

Accounts typist (anyone tried typing out a 21 page of financial statements full of figures from scratch?)

Banking

Office stationery (now that IS boring)

Time and Fees (producing excel spreadsheet for invoices sent out and for monies received - inputting that data onto computer....printing out VAT receipts and statements, then becoming the debt collector for those who don't pay up.

THEN I have the wonderful task of sorting out all the "old" files....you have to bear in mind that some of our files go back to the 1930's and are incredibly fragile (so you can imagine how many old files there are in storage here). I usually end up covered in dust.

After all that is done, I turn my attention to the tax department. I used to help the person who has now left (the job everyone thought I would get). This has now gone to someone who used to be my assistant. I'm happy for her - I really am, it's just I know approximately 50% of the job already and she knows nothing and is now only 1k less than me. I don't really see this as fair in all honesty and I can see now what will happen. I will be asked to help out XYZ (not naming names on here) because I know what I'm doing...she gets the chance of getting a qualification (a darn good one too) whilst I get "used" for the information I hold in my head. I will be expected to help if XYZ is in trouble and can't cope.....

Dealing with the telephone lines and all incoming post for another firm who pay for our services...this includes receiving all orders, processing the orders, sending out invoices and statements (all manual, no computers for this one). Then any queries that may come in from the general public or NHS or pharmacies....

THEN dealing with the telephone lines and reception for a THIRD company who rents rooms from our offices. He's supposed to get 10 hours secretarial services a week, but it never works out that way. I do all his letters, invoicing and accounts for him too.

....and they call me the Office Manager........

They've slowly but surely added more and more to my position without the recompense to go with it.

I started off as a secretary doing ordinary secretarial duties.....

I'd tell you what I get for a salary, but I don't think any of you would believe me!

sympathies but, from one who will be glad to get 2.5% if I am really really lucky, don't feel to hard done by. A lot of the UK firms are doing zero payrises and generally salaries are declining slightly at the moment. 3% is about inflation isn;t it? (That's proper inflation, not the governments skewed figures!).


p.s. so this means you can buy me a drink then?

Actually, I will tell you....

£13,500 - that's it........I can get that elsewhere with much less responsibility, but I don't want to move....I've been here for over 5 years and I don't want to start flitting about from one job to another.

you derserve more!

Actually, baby, you have just made me realise how well off I had been 5 years ago.


Mum x

What you really ought to go for is promotion, not a whacking great payrise. Cos then next time the look for someone to go, you won't be singled out as a high salaryto job position person, who are always the first to go.

Go hassle the boss!

I can't go any higher....this is as high as I can go.

Well come down here a moment and chat

How come you can;t go any higher? Is it a case of dead mens shoes? I'm sure for a fee one or two of us could open up the corporate hierarchy for you

Or would you have to move location?

There are no positions higher than what I hold at this office.

Nothing higher than what I am at HQ either.....

Unless I have a change of career or move jobs completely (which I don't want to do because of my illness), then that's it.

That sounds completely bloody disgusting!
It may not seem fair moving jobs but id do it cos they're severally taking the p*ss! .. stresssed today? me? never

Same old story VV. By being good at the job they move others as it will be more difficult to replace you than them. Folk I've trained are nearly all higher grades than me. Some were complete dunderheads with no idea of man managment.

When I finally got promoted the lads all came to me later that year and said how made up they were that I still did frontline work as well. I believe that you shouldn't ask others to do jobs that you aren't prepared to do. It gives them no room for manouver, and you an understanding in what you are asking.

If you want to stay you need to get qualified (OU is a good place to start). You can learn at your own space (busy life = slower pace) and you'd understand the busines ground up.

Our lot multiplies your pay rise by a performance factor. I got 0.9 for being a top performer. Others got below 0.5!! Motivates staff alright! Motivates them into thinking if I work my doodads off I MIGHT get the going rate. Guess who wont be a high next year!!

Most people get promoted because they are severely bad at they're job and in low positions they can do quite some damage to a company.

They get promoted out of harms way because in this uber-politically correct land of hours you can't actually ask somebody to leave because they're no good at their job.

I have a computing degree. Do you think I managed to get a job in computing? No! Those I graduated with and _have_ managed to get IT jobs are all stuck in low grade tech support roles, because they're the ones that know what's going on. Most of my friends from non-IT disciplines have got IT jobs and are earning a hell of a lot more because multinational blue chip companies are prepared to throw silly money at people to train them in IT and put them in positions telling the people with IT degrees what to do...

I actually like my current job, no matter how poorly it pays - and going for promotion would mean I'm worse off in terms of an hourly rate .

, by the way.

I'm not begrudging XYZ getting the job. I think given the right training she will do well.

I'm just begrudging that she's on a really good salary considering at the moment, she doesn't know what she's doing.

she's a good friend of mine, but I've told her my dissappointment in not being offered the job myself. It made her feel bad, but that wasn't my intention. At the end of the day, she didn't apply for the job, they offered it to her as a way of getting her back into the company (she left for 6 months to go travelling).

In a way, I am a little sour to the fact that she has been given an opportunity of training and getting a good qualification with job role support. I won't be able to get this now.

Bah Humbug!

It sounds like your not getting job satisfaction, this is not good for your well-being.

Change jobs, it may be an upheaval but it's better than being somewhere that doesn't offer you what you need.

Don't say you _can't_ move because they need you, if they really need you they will make it worth your while to stay.
Don't say you _can't_ move because of your illness, all this stress cannot be helping it.
You _can_ move, so what's holding you back?

Mel

It’s not fair that your obviously far too valuable to be ‘lost’ from your current post. Judging from what I’ve read above it seems to be a nation wide problem.

Working with colleagues/friends who are all tiptoeing round each other due to job interviews/promotions is a nightmare. It’s happened twice here in the library block (key skills + support room) in the last few weeks. In both cases none of them have got the job and the speculations and rumor mongering that has been going on has added an extra dimension to the atmosphere here in the block.

“Don't say you _can't_ move because they need you, if they really need you they will make it worth your while to stay.”

I agree, talk to your boss. You suggested that I did, and it’s worked for me. You gave me some very sensible advice, try talking about your position + concerns.

I can imagne that people reach top salary, but why can they not reward loyality another way with easter money or mortgage suplement or insurance benefit.

We've just been through 30 temps going after 5 permenent posts in the last couple of weeks - 3 of the 4 temps on my team got in (me included) but any sense of jubilation was kaiboshed (sp?) by the last bloke not getting it - there would have been even more moaning by the others if we'd got the clean sweep though and can see it may have been a political choice...which makes it even less popular with me!

Poor guy

Poor VV

ds, just depends on the company. I have an IT degree, I work in IT, I am respected for my technical knowledge (ie I am not incompetent in my area!) and I have been promoted and am rewarded and recognised formy contribution to the company. Many of our managers have come through the ranks. But I guess the difference here is that our company says we are responsible for our careers. It does help and managers help and so forth but ultimately if you want promotion its no good sitting at the back complaining you are ignored.

Indeed, in what must be a bit of a change for IT, I have found that our senior consultants are actually very good and know a lot about what they are talking about.

Swings and roundabouts!

Course, doesn;t help VV!

Icky - when I've finished my A+ and CIW can I have a quiet word? (Skills are a bit rusty so I'm refreshing them ready for a career change in a couple of years). Yours sounds like a very, very rare company!

It's true though, if you don't ask, you wont get - I know people who've taken it to extremes and made real pests of themselves end up getting stressed and having to leave anyway but hey, you're not them I can understand the health concerns though - which is why I was keeping my fingers crossed about being made permanent (on twilights I can go to the quacks all the times I need!)