Moved from USA to Sydney

I moved over from USA in December and landed a job. Its been 1 month since I've been at the job and all of a sudden my manager has started acting crazy. Blaming me for not knowing the business inside out ? I mean, there are so many aspects and the way the stuff is laid out, it is all cryptic.

I am more confused than anything.

I am not thinking of changing the job, but i've been there just 1 month. Not sure if is a good move ?

Any advice ?

Comments

  • +12

    from my experience, its best to look for another role. I've had psycho managers in the past and it will eventually eat away at you, affecting your health and wellbeing.

    at the end of the day its just a job, its not worth it if youre not happy

  • +4

    Not really sure what advice we can offer.
    In NSW you can be fired from a job with no notice or termination payment for a 3 month period at the start of a job, so possibly the boss is having second thoughts about hiring you.
    Presumably you have a good idea about how hard/easy it is to find a job in your field here from such a recent job search, but I would perhaps keep looking for suitable alternative opportunities.

    One comment that does stand out is:
    "Blaming me for not knowing the business inside out ? I mean, there are so many aspects and the way the stuff is laid out, it is all cryptic."

    This indicates there is a problem either with your training or with your ability to seek out information and ask questions.
    Partly culturally, Aussies tend to expect employees to be pretty self sufficient. I know from working overseas people commented on how I just got up and running from day one with no fuss, and with imports here I notice sometimes they are looking for who is responsible for something when it is an item we are used to doing for ourselves. I hesitate to say it is entirely cultural, as I have seen similar attitudes from some people from Government/Big Business when they come to smaller companies.

    So maybe aim to be a bit more proactive in asking things and figuring it out rather than waiting for somebody to explain things.

    • +3

      I thought Aussies were a bunch of bludgers? I'm at work on OzBargain right now, and I'm guessing so are a few other bargain hunters.

      On a more serious note, I'm not really sure what to say about your job. Personally, I would stick it out. I'm sure you've faced more difficult challenges in your life than this so I'd say you can overcome it. If it does start negatively impacting you on a long term basis and nothing is improving, you constantly dread work and can't find relief/enjoyment in other things because of it, I'd say it's time for a new job.

      I'm relatively young (older than OzBargain though), so take my advice with a grain of salt, but that's what I'd do.

      P.S. Welcome to Australia. Go down to Bunning's on the weekend and have a snag if you haven't already. It's an Aussie classic

      • +7

        I'm pretty sure being at work and using OzB on a Friday is in our Constitution somewhere…

    • thanks for your perspective and the culture fit did cross my mind, but then after evaluating it further, i realized that it was not cultural fit which was the problem.

      A good example which happened to me twice in one week - I was assigned a project and completed in good time given the vendor and documentation provided. The actual documentation was withheld and was not given to me at all. I thought the thing i was working off was the only documentation that was available and then i was told "Ohh well you didn't ask when you started." I am like well you assigned me, shouldn't have given me everything when you assigned it ?

      Am i missing something ? More confused than anything.

      and for the record there was no training given.

      • +1

        I guess it comes down to asking more questions. This week I had to redo a presentation 3 times because information we got was continually updated throughout the week. The night before this presentation was due to be shown, we also had new information funnel in to replace some of the old stuff. It would have been nice to get it all together in one go so I wouldn't have to worry about it, but I suppose that's just the way some places are.

        I too received minimal training in my role, but I'm getting there. Days such are the one above are very stressful especially since I'm the only person who does what I do, so I have some empathy for you in that regard.

        I don't think you're missing something, but it could be the case that who ever was giving you the documentation had forgotten about the piece that was withheld. Questions have been the key for me. I've frustrated my boss on many occasions with my constant lack of understanding (especially since we find it difficult accurately communicating ideas with each other).

        • I can resonate with what you are saying, my stressful days have been converted to weeks - 2 to be exact.

          I am not sure if this is a pattern or should i sit down quietly and wait it out.

          Heck i even brought this up and said that i think these were the things because of which i was not able to do my job as required, but 2 days after that conversation, it is the same. Very confused !

        • +1

          @warlord: Aussies are a laid back bunch. My last week and this week have been similar (so I'm on that 2 week stress, being up at midnight and working on the weekend).

          People here are not super uptight as most people would agree with. People forget things quickly, no one really holds a grudge, but just keep on reminding would be my recommendation. Not in serious ways, but maybe ask "do you have any more documents that go with this?" in a casual manner when you're given work.

          Tell us how it goes OP

        • @BrewerHaHa: Makes sense. I'll give that a try. thanks !

  • What type of role are you talking about here? Does politics come into all this somewhere?

    Did you happen to oversell yourself in the job interview and set an unrealistic expectation in your boss' head?

    Me personally, I like to go into a new job and not ruffle any feathers or step on anyone's toes for the first month or two so that I can get an idea of how things work and how people interact with each other. But that gives the wrong impressions sometimes, so every now and then, I have to put my foot down to show that my presence is actually there and that I do have a voice - even though I don't necessarily understand everything completely during that time. I'm not scared to speak up and make mistakes nor am I scared of admitting to it if I do. (I work in management in an office environment).

    • It is an office environment and technology related. I think there is politics involved, but i am quiet far out from it.

      I was asking feedback which i gave to my best capabilities, not sure if i would have stepped on someones toes. Could be a possibility.

      • So your boss went off at you because you asked him for feedback?

  • So should i put this one month of work experience in Australia on my resume and apply for another position or should i keep it on and explain that it was not a proper fit ? Not sure how recruiters and hiring managers look at job hoppers.

    • +1

      Things don't always run smoothly at the start of a job - it could be your level of confidence or even just a simple misunderstanding that's causing this friction.

      Was it just that one time that your boss went off at you? Does he treat everyone the same? Your boss could simply be an a-hole or it could just be you being too sensitive.

      Have you made friends with the other people in your team? Do you get along well with everyone? If you have, have you tried talking to them about it? A month is long enough to get an idea of what the people in your team are like. If you haven't made friends there in a month (and I'm being blunt and honest here), it could simply be that you're just not the right fit for the team.

      I would advise you to stick around for another couple of months to see if things improve - or for as long as you can hack it there. A month isn't really long enough to know for sure.

      Then if you do decide to leave after that, you can at least tell yourself you've given this job a proper go.

      The scariest thing about office work is the whole word of mouth thing - it's a small world out there and people talk. Everyone knows everyone and if you leave on bad terms, there's a good chance it might come back and bite you in the butt later down the track. Or the manager you're leaving now might be friends with the manager of the next job you go to interview for, etc.

      Btw, I wouldn't put one month on my resume. Especially since you're going to have to explain the circumstances every time you go for an interview.

    • -5

      I hire software developers sometimes, as part of my job.

      I would definitely ask you about why you are leaving your current position, and I would require a much better explanation than you have given so far in this post.

      There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding between you and your boss, but - let me be perfectly honest, I hope you don't mind - I can't tell if it's cultural, a communication skills thing, or what.

      Are you originally from a culture that favours following orders over getting the job done, or favours staying in your proper place over speaking up, like in India or China?

      Have you ever been diagnosed with Aspergers?

      • Answers to both questions is No.

      • Have you ever been diagnosed with Aspergers?

        Less than 1% of the world's population has Aspergers - why would that be one of your first questions?

        A month at a job is not really long enough to make a proper judgement on anything.

      • why would you accuse someone of having aspergers?

    • +1

      just put it down as a one month project piece.

    • +1

      Wait it out. There is a decent chance that they are just trying to adjust you to their culture and align you with how they operate. Have you asked around to see if others were pushed harder in their first 6 months?

  • Maybe it's you. Maybe you're too laid-back and lack effort. Perhaps you need training or more training. Request training?
    Maybe you are not qualified for the role? You got the job here and not before arriving in Australia, which could mean you were not on a skilled visa.
    Just saying.

  • +1

    Bikies.

  • Question: is your boss a woman? They usually get high on the power.

    • +3

      Yes. Not always true they get high on power.

      • +3

        yeah sometimes its coke

        • +1

          Stick with pepsi

      • +2

        Ignore Vieira4, what a stupid comment; although not really surprised somebody has said it.

        My suggestion is quietly ask the boss for a meeting so you can go through what is happening and how you can improve the situation. Sit down and work out what issues you are currently having and what solutions you might be able to propose to fix it; put together a well thought out presentation. You want to make it look like you are trying to adapt to the organisation and provide the best results. Bringing in an overseas hire probably took a bit of work, so there might be frustration or politics happening that is putting stress on the boss, it is hard to tell with the information available. Sit down with your work colleagues and find out what the culture is in the place and get their input into how you can get stuff done. We tend to be a bit open to a Friday afterworks drink with mixed groups; so you need to ensure you are part of that mix.

        Best of Luck. Hope you get your issues sorted out. Should've come to Melbourne :)

        • Ignore Vieira4, what a stupid comment; although not really surprised somebody has said it.

          Female bosses may not always get high on power like Vieria4 has put it, but there is definitely a very noticeable difference in management styles and the things you can and can't do when it comes to the different sexes managing.

        • +2

          @bobbified: However, from your comments I have no idea on what these things might be. My experience with female managers is they are generally supportive of the people under them and try to avoid the political games. I have only had a few bad managers and they were male (I have also had some excellent male managers as well). The issue was with the attitude of the person, not their sex. Do you really think that Vieria4 should get away with saying thing like "They usually get high on the power" and expect not to be called out on it? I thought this site was meant to be about providing people with assistance not trying to exclude a sizeable part of the population with insults.

        • I've had dreadful female bosses and excellent ones, so I cant really draw any meaningful conclusions about whether female bosses get high with power more than male bosses get high with power.
          It seems a bit of a stretch to me, perhaps people notice it more in the same way feminists will complain women are described as bossy and a man as assertive etc?

        • +4

          @mskeggs: People are people; some make good bosses and some make terrible bosses - from my, and my friends, experience it has little to do with what gender they are. My view of a good boss is they set clear guidelines as to what they want delivered, when they want it delivered by and then let you get on with delivering it. They listen to your input on how things can be improved, understand that feedback is essential to facilitate improvement and filter the more insane elements from Senior management. They provide support to, and acknowledgment of, their subordinates and ensure their group delivers to improve the customer experience and the bottom line of the company whilst still "growing" the development of their individual team members.

          These qualities don't come with a set of sex organs, they come with an understanding of their position and responsibilities.

        • +3

          @try2bhelpful:

          From my own experiences, my previous female bosses (which makes up most of my previous bosses) have all placed a lot of emotions into their roles and it reflected in the way they treated their staff and the way they dealt with issues that arose at work. I've been in the situation many times where I've got away with murder because they treat me like their own son. This also carried through to the social side of work.

          This is in direct contrast to the male bosses I've had where work is work and play is play. They tend to be very blunt at work and won't hold back. However, once the issue has been dealt with, any emotions that may have arisen during the dealing of that incident was gone and there were no hard feelings. This went both ways - we were always able to have headed arguments to sort things out without the fear of either one taking it personally.

          Having a heated argument with a female boss is not something I'd even consider anymore because my experience tells me that the emotions of anger, etc linger around way after that argument. The times I've done that, there have been tears.

          Now, each has it's advantages and disadvantages - such as when I'm sick and not able to go to work, there has always been genuine concerns from my female bosses. My male bosses would assume that I'll be fine (which most guys, including myself, tend to do).

          This is just my experiences and I'm not saying that either one or the other is better. I'm just saying that there are marked differences between the two and I've just adapted accordingly over the years to deal with it.

        • +2

          @bobbified: That is your experience, it is not everyone's experience; this is not something you can generalise for everyone. I was challenging the quote "is your boss a woman? They usually get high on the power" which is a rank generalisation.

          I tend not to have heated arguments with my bosses, however, we do have frank discussions - in the second one you take the emotion out of the situation and discuss things rationally. This is a two way street.

          You might want to watch the "I'll be fine" aspect; fortunately I decided the age spot on my arm wasn't fine before it turned into something that couldn't be just cut out.

        • @try2bhelpful:

          I tend not to have heated arguments with my bosses, however, we do have frank discussions - in the second one you take the emotion out of the situation and discuss things rationally. This is a two way street.

          Maybe I shouldn't have used the words "heated argument". I should have said "heated discussions". What I've found is that my female bosses don't take their emotions out of the situation. They seem to take it personally when the argument is really all to do with work and there's absolutely nothing personal about it.

          That is your experience, it is not everyone's experience; this is not something you can generalise for everyone.

          You're definitely right about that.

          Although, I do think that it'd be foolish to expect that the management styles are going to be the same between male and female bosses. There's no denying that there's a biological difference and in most cases, that's going to carry through everything in life.

        • @bobbified: I think Biology is a tad over rated in differentiating how people think. I have known some genuinely compassionate men and some completely hard nosed women - whatever the individual biology stereotypes might say. I don't think either "heated" or "argument" should be words that are used in a work situation; they are emotional terms and speak of confrontation rather than attempting to determine a mutually acceptable solution. Also, as I am only getting your side of the discussion it is difficult to tell whether the women were taking this personally; this is only your interpretation of how you think they are reacting. I would like to have been a fly on the wall during your "arguments" with your male and female bosses to see a) how you approached the situations and b) whether the language differed. You may think you are approaching this the same way, but you may not be; difficult to make an analysis with the information available. I am not saying these aren't your experiences; only that the views of other side of the situation are not available to us.

          The best way to approach a situation is to determine what you want and lay out a way to achieve it that is mutually beneficial and does not lay blame on either side. Then create a presentation and lay out the solution calmly. You may find whilst you are doing this that there is actually a flaw in your logic, or a way to bolster your position. If the person takes a contrary position allow them to completely lay out their issues and then calmly discuss their points. Escalating the situation, particularly with your manager, is not a good career move.

        • @bobbified:

          From my own experiences, my previous female bosses (which makes up most of my previous bosses) have all placed a lot of emotions into their roles and it reflected in the way they treated their staff and the way they dealt with issues that arose at work

          +1

        • @try2bhelpful:

          it is difficult to tell whether the women were taking this personally; this is only your interpretation of how you think they are reacting.

          When months down the track, the issue of me not taking on their "suggestion" is brought up by other colleagues who my boss has "whinged" to about the situation, that's a sure way of knowing that they've taken it personally. They also won't try to hide the fact that they're still pissed off afterwards.
          The discussions have never been personal and and it is always only about work. There's never any insults and never any swearing directed at them. On a few occasions, there's been tears because "I'm not listening to them". It's not that I'm not listening to them, it's because I'm questioning the reasoning behind their suggestions - which I think is reasonable given that there's things that she may know that I'm not aware of and things that I know that she may not be aware of.

          I have the same (probably even worse) discussions with my male managers and I know they're fully aware that it's just work - we can argue backwards and forwards behind closed doors to come up with a solution to something and I know for a fact that they're not going to take it personally. How do I know that? Because we can go for a beer that afternoon and have a laugh about it. Then, it's never mentioned again.

          At the end of the day, we're looking for the best solution to a work problem - we don't have anything against each other and I expect to be able to work together to get a good result.

          On the other hand, I've had male bosses go off at me behind closed doors for screwing something up. I have no qualms dealing with that and again, we can still go for a beer after work because we know that "work is work".

          Escalating the situation, particularly with your manager, is not a good career move.
          You're exactly right about this - if my boss female (well, not everyone female, but the previous female bosses I've had).
          My male bosses don't see things that way. They see each incident as it is and don't hold it against me. Otherwise I wouldn't be where I am now.

        • @bobbified: Again, we don't have the other side of the story here, so I can't make a judgement. I would like to see what the women had to say; however, as that is not going to happen whatever we discuss will be conjecture and based on your interpretation. I have never had that experience wih any of my female bosses and none of my friends have mentioned experiences like that. My original post came back to the comment "They usually get high on the power." which is a blatant generalisation and a direct insult to women managers.

  • +1

    As long as you're now driving on the correct side of the road and can write the date correctly, day, month, year and have changed your spell checker to Australian English I can't see you have problems.

    It may be your staying quiet to keep outta trouble and keep a low profile is causing the boss probs. They may expect you to show commonsense and make sure you have all the needed info to do the task if you don't chase stuff on your own initiative this may be seen as ineptitude

    I think you're lucky to have scored a job so quickly given their may be 100 of aussies that could be doing the job but didn't get it

  • DONOT stay at a place where you don't feel comfortable and where you are not happy. I would suggest that you should not get into stress and trouble staying there and bearing the everyday mishaps and non-stop blames.

  • +1

    Does the job involve much written communication?

    If so, your punctuation and grammar isn't crash hot.

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