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what is the fine line that differentiates a cooperative professional admin from a simple gopher and maid?
one knows she'll have a job to go to next month...
and the other really isn't sure.
while on the point of maid work...
maybe a PT job as an actual maid (at a cheap motel on the weekends?)...
would afford you some perspective on the larger issues
Flight attendants clean the plane after a flight. The movie theater manager helps me clean the theater after a show if we had a big crowd. And so on. It's very common work (i.e., cleaning up after customers) that lots of employees have to do who have job titles and job descriptions other than "janitor".
Flight attendants DO tidy up a little bit, but they do not clean the airplane.
And anyway, an administrative assitant's job description does not include these tasks........
You seem to recognize a lot of positives in your job. Do they outweigh the negative of occasionally being a gopher?
If you are at a large university, I imagine one of the perks is discounted tuition. Do you want to get a degree in another area? Perhaps you could leverage a tuition discount to a better position (focusing on the positives while you work toward a different degree).
Hi yellowbelle!
Focusining on positives keep me going here. Your idea of a degreeis great, I am already working on that.
Please don't take me wrong, I LOVE being an admin. But there only so much a woman can lift! And only so much work a single human being can handle in a short work week.
I just don't want to be treated like a gopher, I feel they look down on me, treat me with disrespect, like I was a maid with some managerial responsibilities, that doesn't make sense.
Please don't take me wrong, I LOVE being an admin. But there only so much a woman can lift! And only so much work a single human being can handle in a short work week.
I just don't want to be treated like a gopher, I feel they look down on me, treat me with disrespect, like I was a maid with some managerial responsibilities, that doesn't make sense.
If they are actually giving you too much work to complete in your scheduled on-the-job hours, that's one thing. If this is just about feeling that these reasonable tasks are demeaning, though, that sounds more like your personal issue (do YOU look down on janitors and housekeeping staff?) than your bosses' issue.
Of course, your workplace is fictional anyway, so whatever.
When I was a retail sales person we had to clean the store after close and than before open (Because so many people come in between the hours of 10pm and 8am) I actually had to scrape the gum off of the fitting rooms, clean the toilets, vacuum, throw away all the sweaty chik-fil-a cups people left lying around.
Now, at my "career" job, I spend about 20% of my day bubble wrapping. And if I miss that cut off time for the free messenger center, you betcha I'm out there in the elements bringing whatever it is to wherever it needs to be.
I like to think of it as paying my dues. That way when I move up I will be grateful for the person who formerly had my position.
Whether this university is a not-for-profit institution or a for-profit college, they are required to keep track of their expenses. Laundry and travel is an expense. Prepare an invoice and mail it to the accounting department. Do not deliver it to your direct supervisor. Send it to the university department that pays the university's bills. They can choose not to pay it, but it will be caught by the state auditors. More than likely, the school's accountants will wonder what your department is doing, expecting you to provide free services, and tell them to knock it off.
Now, that said, I do wonder how much of your story is exaggerated. I mean, what 'famous university' has a homeopathic department?? You say that 'every time you move floors' you have to pack and unpack the entire department. But you've only worked there a year--how often is your department moving??
And finally, $3k isn't very much, not even for temp labor. The average temp clerical or laborer, after the placement service is paid, insurance, and paperwork expense is covered, that only leaves you with maybe two weeks a year of a temp. And that would be all of the department's discretionary spending. It's pretty typical that organizations hold their discretionary money until the fourth quarter, in case it is needed for something urgent.
Whether this university is a not-for-profit institution or a for-profit college, they are required to keep track of their expenses. Laundry and travel is an expense. Prepare an invoice and mail it to the accounting department. Do not deliver it to your direct supervisor. Send it to the university department that pays the university's bills. They can choose not to pay it, but it will be caught by the state auditors. More than likely, the school's accountants will wonder what your department is doing, expecting you to provide free services, and tell them to knock it off.
Now, that said, I do wonder how much of your story is exaggerated. I mean, what 'famous university' has a homeopathic department?? You say that 'every time you move floors' you have to pack and unpack the entire department. But you've only worked there a year--how often is your department moving??
And finally, $3k isn't very much, not even for temp labor. The average temp clerical or laborer, after the placement service is paid, insurance, and paperwork expense is covered, that only leaves you with maybe two weeks a year of a temp. And that would be all of the department's discretionary spending. It's pretty typical that organizations hold their discretionary money until the fourth quarter, in case it is needed for something urgent.
Hi Kodaka,
It would be fun to hand the accounting department a bill for the laundry and the gasoline!
The university has this new deparment (mine). We move aroundour stuff quite a bit around the campus due to lack of space.
Every time we have exams or clinical practice, the packing and unpacking of relevant supplies have to change rooms. NOT the entire department with all the furniture and filing cabinets, but the supplies and equipment for classes which are numerous and some of them are very big -such as exam tables-.
And the logistics that go with all these moves require a lot of planning and scheduling, coordinating setup and teardown. And AFTER each event, the things have to go back to storage (we change storage rooms too often; our stuff is relocated all the time). And I am the one running around to fulfill last minute requests, which sometimes are unnecessary.
Yes, when I am given enough notice, I can get help from the service department; but they need at least 2 days notice to move the big stuff.
For example, just today, I was asked to go to a classroom and MOVE all the tables and chairs to prepare the setup for a conference. WITH NO HELP from any of the other 4 people in my department!
They gave me 10 minutes notice before the start of the event!!! So being in the middle of graduation arrangements (wrapping gifts, printing certificates, etc., I left what I was doing and ran to meet this challenge).
Thank goodness some students from the previous class were still there and offered to help me, so we finished just in time.
I actually LIKE helping out with these and many other chores, but I resent the short notice because that's unrealistic and the delays make the department look bad and disorganized. All they had to do was to give me notice 2 days ago and I would have asked the service department to do the heavy lifting and pushing of chairs and tables.
You are right, 3k is not very much, but it is quite a bit of money that is going to be UNUSED by the end of June. I just wanted to hire some temp laborer at least for 2 days (16 hours) to finish a big storage / sorting / cleaning / dumping project. I consider this a last minute urgent need, where the discretionary budget comes in handy. So, my deparment might not have these 3k next year because we did not use this money. But mind you, the project HAS to be finished before the classes start again next Fall. At least in this case I have a couple of months to finish this and other similar assignments.
Anyway, all the insight is appreciated, thank you Kodaka for taking the time to share your thoughts.
When I was a retail sales person we had to clean the store after close and than before open (Because so many people come in between the hours of 10pm and 8am) I actually had to scrape the gum off of the fitting rooms, clean the toilets, vacuum, throw away all the sweaty chik-fil-a cups people left lying around.
Now, at my "career" job, I spend about 20% of my day bubble wrapping. And if I miss that cut off time for the free messenger center, you betcha I'm out there in the elements bringing whatever it is to wherever it needs to be.
I like to think of it as paying my dues. That way when I move up I will be grateful for the person who formerly had my position.
When I was in retail I did exactly the same as you; I also worked other jobs as car wash, kitchen assistant and the like to help pay for my education.
I did think of it to as paying my dues at the time, and still think that way now. I just wish I could focus on doing my "real" administrative job, which involves more my brain and less my body. I was hired for what I know and for my experience (or so I was told), so I am a bit disappointed in the lack of consideration when they treat me like an office boy, with total disregard for my other more important projects which always have tight deadlines AND THAT I LOVE.
Thank you for your kind reply, it is nice to remember what I could do in my younger years as a student.
They gave me 10 minutes notice before the start of the event!!! So being in the middle of graduation arrangements (wrapping gifts, printing certificates, etc., I left what I was doing and ran to meet this challenge).
So you moved some tables and chairs for 10 minutes? Based on your OP, I thought you were doing heavy lifting, gophering, cleaning or other menial tasks for the majority of your workday.
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