Little things that irk you.. (no swearing please)

[SharkSkin-Man]

Relevent Knowlege sounds awesome.

[randombs]

I'm sure it is. When I tried it I got a message saying there are no surveys for me to fill in. The previous guy must've been drunk on surveys.

[Darwock]

That sounds like a nightmare Billy, but is it a good idea to go straight to the director with a list of everything that is wrong? You said you were the assistant to the IT manager right? Shouldn't you report to him? Going immediately over his head looks very bad in your first week...

[fuse]

Current irk: jetlag.

[davesol]

That sounds like a nightmare Billy, but is it a good idea to go straight to the director with a list of everything that is wrong? You said you were the assistant to the IT manager right? Shouldn't you report to him? Going immediately over his head looks very bad in your first week...

was just about to say the same thing. why not speak to the IT manager about your concerns rather than going straight to the director? It could be that he is fully aware of the situation and has been fighting to get an assistant for a long time in order to be able to have the time to sort the situation out. Obviously I'm just guessing, maybe he's crap but it seems a bit unfair to go behind his back one week after starting the job when the situation may not be entirely down to him.

[NemesiS]

You follow through those actions Billy and you will lose your job. Speak to the IT Manager first as he may just be making the best of a bad lot dropped on him by what looks like thrifty management and budget to me.

You'd be surprised but not every company has an elite IT infrastructure. The amount of companies that have no idea about basic security, AV and user management and subsequently have gaping holes in their networks is astonishing.

The chances are that your IT Manager probably got the job with very little experience and as such doesn't know how to manage the network effectively. It wouldn?t surprise me if he was interviewed by the Hotel Manager

If you are set upon making waves about the issue then have a meeting with him first and just detail whatever issues and concerns you have and outline any resolutions that you think will improve the overall IT infrastructure. Make it clear you are there to help him and spread the load. The chances are he will appreciate it and also you will get a bead on how knowledgeable he is.

If he is still totally clueless though then it?s up to you on your course of action but most companies in my experience don?t like backstabbers and people who try to go above their managers to force an issue and like I said, you may end up on getting the bullet.

[randombs]

That sounds like a nightmare Billy, but is it a good idea to go straight to the director with a list of everything that is wrong? You said you were the assistant to the IT manager right? Shouldn't you report to him? Going immediately over his head looks very bad in your first week...

was just about to say the same thing. why not speak to the IT manager about your concerns rather than going straight to the director? It could be that he is fully aware of the situation and has been fighting to get an assistant for a long time in order to be able to have the time to sort the situation out. Obviously I'm just guessing, maybe he's crap but it seems a bit unfair to go behind his back one week after starting the job when the situation may not be entirely down to him.

If you are set upon making waves about the issue then have a meeting with him first and just detail whatever issues and concerns you have and outline any resolutions that you think will improve the overall IT infrastructure. Make it clear you are there to help him and spread the load. The chances are he will appreciate it and also you will get a bead on how knowledgeable he is.

My related irk is the wage I'm being offered on the grounds that "the other graduates are on the same wage" despite the fact that they're expecting me to be on call pretty much 24/7, whereas I'm pretty sure the graduate concierge guy isn't on call. Part of the reason is probably because, during the interview, I told my uncle I want to become a teacher but I've decided to scrap that now and concentrate on this so will let him know.

The reason I wasn't too interested in discussing it with the IT manager is in case he tells me not to mention any of this stuff, and then it'll get really murky. Judging by what I've seen, I'm convinced this will most likely be what he says. Even if he doesn't, the point is I'm not blaming him for this stuff except in the cases where he's being less than professional.

I haven't signed my contract with them, yet, which is why I'm doing all this stuff now because I need to settle the wage and imagine it'll be more difficult once I am an actual member of their staff. I've decided to take you guys' advice and discuss it with the IT guy first, but may still take it up with my uncle because it's too serious to just be left alone as it is.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Again you displaying your immature attitude to work, relying on your family network to get you the job and now undermine others int he organisation.

If you don't like the wage how about getting out in the real world and getting a real salary? I guess you have thought of that but have found it's not so easy.

[randombs]

What are you on about? I've been working for the past eight years of my own accord and without any family connections. In fact, I've never had good experiences with work through family connections which is why I tend to stay clear of them(including this one, initially) but I was hoping this one would be a bit more of a professional situation. The reason I mentioned the graduate bit is because I've recently graduated, although I was working before I started uni, and my work experience hasn't been straight-up I.T. support like this, so they haven't got much to go by in terms of my suitability, other than what I've told them I can do.

Not to mention, what do you mean by 'again'? I don't recall having discussed work with you before. As for a 'real' salary, please explain. That's exactly what I'm trying to negotiate right now but they're trying to figure me out. Showing that I'm actually paying attention to what's going on and offering useful suggestions and advice will help in that respect.

Granted, I was miffed which is precisely why I posted on this thread in the first place, and now Darwock, davesol and NemesiS have basically saved my job with their advice.

[SharkSkin-Man]

Not to mention, what do you mean by 'again'? I don't recall having discussed work with you before.

Sounds like a stalker.
I know his location says Edinburgh but i'd check your bushes and behind your wheely-bin when you get home just to make sure, Bil.

[Dirty Sanchez]

The again refers back to the previous posts about this role and how great you are and worth so much more in the open market. No stalker behaviour I'm afraid, just commenting on a lack of awareness of how to go about issue resolution in a professional manner.

[kernow]

He's basically saying he's better than you and earns more money.

[Friction]

My latest irk.

Games arriving in the post with loose discs in the case. Happen far too many times of late and it very annoying!

Further to that, finding a game you've been after for ages, which was in superb condition, but arrived with a cracked disc - similar to the above I guess.

[Dirty Sanchez]

He's basically saying he's better than you and earns more money.

Exactly, that's the point. A degree and working for 8 years (as Sponge Bob Sparepants right hand man?) results in an 18k job via a family memeber? Yup, someone is really hitting the heights of acheivement there.

A bit rich complaining about the unprofessional setup then going about the issue in an equally unprofessional manner.

Observe.
Record.
Report.
Act.

It's not rocket science.

[kernow]

I have a degree and a few years of experience, and I don't even get 12k jobs. YEAHHH

Perhaps being the most negative person to have ever lived on earth might have something to do with it, but ehh