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I graduated from grad school in early 2011 and found a job in June and have been working there. Initially, things went great and I was doing great. However, I keep on making significant mistakes at work and I'm fearful that I'll be fired soon. It's only been 5 months since I've been working at this job, and while I don't want to be doing this forever, I don't want to get fired either. It's just that I suck at what I'm doing.
I'm 25 and work as an analyst.
How many of you were fired from your first job after college?
After how long on the job were you fired?
Didn't happen to me, but I was pretty crappy at my first job out of school for the first six months or so. Just pay attention and do your best to learn from your mistakes. Don't give up though. You are just inexperienced and don't quite know what you are doing yet.
Didn't happen to me, but I was pretty crappy at my first job out of school for the first six months or so. Just pay attention and do your best to learn from your mistakes. Don't give up though. You are just inexperienced and don't quite know what you are doing yet.
Great, thanks!
I just so happen to work as a statistician/statistical analyst. Unfortunately, I don't get to do too much formal stats. No logistic regression, t-tests, etc.
Sucks! I end up doing a lot of bookkeeping and accounting, which I suck at.
Mistakes happen, and it's to be expected for someone new to the job without experience. Mistakes are not the problem, the real problem is if you do not learn from them. As long as your not repeating your mistakes, I think they would cut you some slack. The more experienced folks have been in your shoes before, and have made mistakes along the way. Unfortunately, mistakes are often expensive, which is why many companies are not training right now.
Mistakes happen, and it's to be expected for someone new to the job without experience. Mistakes are not the problem, the real problem is if you do not learn from them. As long as your not repeating your mistakes, I think they would cut you some slack. The more experienced folks have been in your shoes before, and have made mistakes along the way. Unfortunately, mistakes are often expensive, which is why many companies are not training right now.
In my job I do a lot of measuring in sometimes very large buildings. Along the way you learn some tricks; for example 8" concrete block is 16" long so counting 26 blocks is 416 inches or 34'-8". Carrying if farther if you have 12 bays each having 16 blocks your building is 416'-0" long and in my business buildings of 100 to 300 thousand square feet are not unusual.
When training I went out as helper and I remember my boss telling me to always convert to feet and inches before writing it down. Never put down 58 inches but 4'-10". Over the next few survey jobs this was pounded into my head.... when asked what I got I learned to always answer in feet and inches.
After several months training I got my first job that I was in charge of. My boss told me I was in charge and he'd be sending Bobby along to help hold the idiot end of the tape measure.
We had bar joists, I remembered the trick, counted blocks between joists and came up with 192 inches equally spaced between three bar joists. 192/3=64" between each joist space.
So what did I do? I converted 64" to 6'-4" and used that on the entire building.
It wasn't a large job, less than $10,000 in terms of today's dollars, but it was my first.
6'-4" between joists and with 20 joists my building was 126'-8" long. 50' across and we had 6,333 sq. ft..
So I draw it up. From survey to final ordering I was responsible for everything.... people would stop in, see how I was going, offer words of encouragement and in a few days I was done.
I was proud of my work. Ordered the material, truck showed, we fabricated and got everything to the job site for Monday morning installation.
First thing Monday morning my boss tells me I need to go to the site... there appears to be a problem with measurements.
Yeah, no kidding... 64" does not equal 6'-4" and by multiplying it out I was creating one huge disaster. I felt sick, guys would have to spend an extra day re-cutting steel costing the company several hundred in union labor.
I felt sick.
I got back to the shop to discover everyone knew it it before I did. Bobby watched me write the wrong information down, he talked to my boss who told him to let it go... that it was a small job and would teach me a valuable lesson.
It did, a lesson I never forgot and a mistake I haven't made since.
My boss felt yeah, it would cost a few bucks but to have it happen on a small job, with a limit of maybe a thousand lost to my mistake, was a whole lot better than on a job costing several hundred thousand where a mistake like that could cost several years of my annual salary.
Youth, agility and quick wit are no match for experience in the ways of treachery.
I graduated from grad school in early 2011 and found a job in June and have been working there. Initially, things went great and I was doing great. However, I keep on making significant mistakes at work and I'm fearful that I'll be fired soon. It's only been 5 months since I've been working at this job, and while I don't want to be doing this forever, I don't want to get fired either. It's just that I suck at what I'm doing.
I'm 25 and work as an analyst.
How many of you were fired from your first job after college?
After how long on the job were you fired?
Why not talk with your boss and see if you can get some coaching, learn to not make the mistake you are making.
The way things are going, apparently from your post, you are screwing up one thing, that makes you nervous, and then screw up the next thing.
Is there any good reliable way to check your work? For example the way you might add up expenses for meals, lodging, and incidentals for a trip both by day and by class of expense (you guys that never worked before PCs were common bear with me) - the totals by day and by class of expense should both independently add up to the same grand total - if they don't there is a mistake.
And/or get an experienced worker to help you check your work.
That said, maybe your current job is just not a good fit for your skills and personality - maybe you can get an internal transfer, if not, ask about outplacemet rather than just sit there and keep screwing up till you get the boot.
In my job I do a lot of measuring in sometimes very large buildings. Along the way you learn some tricks; for example 8" concrete block is 16" long so counting 26 blocks is 416 inches or 34'-8". Carrying if farther if you have 12 bays each having 16 blocks your building is 416'-0" long and in my business buildings of 100 to 300 thousand square feet are not unusual.
When training I went out as helper and I remember my boss telling me to always convert to feet and inches before writing it down. Never put down 58 inches but 4'-10". Over the next few survey jobs this was pounded into my head.... when asked what I got I learned to always answer in feet and inches.
After several months training I got my first job that I was in charge of. My boss told me I was in charge and he'd be sending Bobby along to help hold the idiot end of the tape measure.
We had bar joists, I remembered the trick, counted blocks between joists and came up with 192 inches equally spaced between three bar joists. 192/3=64" between each joist space.
So what did I do? I converted 64" to 6'-4" and used that on the entire building.
It wasn't a large job, less than $10,000 in terms of today's dollars, but it was my first.
6'-4" between joists and with 20 joists my building was 126'-8" long. 50' across and we had 6,333 sq. ft..
So I draw it up. From survey to final ordering I was responsible for everything.... people would stop in, see how I was going, offer words of encouragement and in a few days I was done.
I was proud of my work. Ordered the material, truck showed, we fabricated and got everything to the job site for Monday morning installation.
First thing Monday morning my boss tells me I need to go to the site... there appears to be a problem with measurements.
Yeah, no kidding... 64" does not equal 6'-4" and by multiplying it out I was creating one huge disaster. I felt sick, guys would have to spend an extra day re-cutting steel costing the company several hundred in union labor.
I felt sick.
I got back to the shop to discover everyone knew it it before I did. Bobby watched me write the wrong information down, he talked to my boss who told him to let it go... that it was a small job and would teach me a valuable lesson.
It did, a lesson I never forgot and a mistake I haven't made since.
My boss felt yeah, it would cost a few bucks but to have it happen on a small job, with a limit of maybe a thousand lost to my mistake, was a whole lot better than on a job costing several hundred thousand where a mistake like that could cost several years of my annual salary.
Youth, agility and quick wit are no match for experience in the ways of treachery.
yeah, best thing to do is talk with ur boss....maybe schedule a 10-15 min meeting with him/her and just say "I wanted to talk to u about my performance, I'm concerned and want to get some feedback from you so I can correct anything that u may feel would benefit the company. I do value my position here and want to be the best at it that I can be....is there any recommendations u may have for me to improve my performance?"
BAM
and thats when he'she will say "well..... problem XYZ should be approached this way or that way"
save ur ass dude. If u know termination is imminent, just quit first.
It never dawned on me at the time but there were a lot of people stopping by my office checking the progress of my work. Fitters would stop in and event the office girls stepped in lending moral support.
Everyone was saying how well I was learning... I liked the attention.
But it didn't occur to me until later the reason everyone was checking the progress is everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, in the company from very top to bottom was aware of my mistake except me and together they were checking it out... like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
Gave everyone in the company a good laugh for many months after.
It was the company joke but it was understood, without being told, don't let that mistake happen again. A lesson on how a seemingly minor mistake has the potential to have a huge impact.
Here's an example of how a small mistake, and how easy it is to make one, can grow into a disaster.
Consider this building, I have identified what bay spacing is and from where we are standing how many bays can you count to where the end wall is? Now if you are sure are you $50,000 sure your count is right? Made you count again, didn't I?
FYI this particular building had 16 total bays (where we are standing is not the end) and was 300' across. Total area was 120,000 sq. ft. and maybe you can see how easy it would be to miscount by one or two bays which is why I always do my counts at least two times, from opposite directions, and I've been known to repeat the count three or four times until I am satisfied the count is correct.
I just so happen to work as a statistician/statistical analyst. Unfortunately, I don't get to do too much formal stats. No logistic regression, t-tests, etc.
Sucks! I end up doing a lot of bookkeeping and accounting, which I suck at.
You need to bring this up with your boss and let him/her know that you are doing a job that you are not good at.
I've worked people all my life and one this I've found out is to use a person in the position they are good at. I know what each person can and can't do on my crew and I would never even think of using them doing something they can't
A good boss should know and understand this. I learned a lesson 35 years ago when my boss told me to use my labors to finish concrete. I asked them if they knew how to finish it and several said no.
I told the superintendent that several didn't know how to finish concrete and he said they would be fired if the didn't. Well they tried anyway and screwed it up and my boss fired them even though they were the best labors I've ever had working for me.
The next week the superintendent wanted to know why the labors weren't complete with grading the sand base and I told him it was because he fired my best guys last week because they couldn't finish concrete.
He said that labors should know how to finish concrete and I told him that he was full of crap. Finishers finish concrete and labors are helpers and if he didn't know the difference then he should not even be in the business.
I've carried this throughout my life and ask people who work for what they can do. I then try and train them but if they don't get it and they are good at something else I use them for that. Not all people are the same and not all people can do everything but they may still be good at something and a good boss will find that out.
Talk to your boss and tell him/her that you're not good at what you do and ask them to train you and if you are still making mistakes then ask them to move you to where you can preform at your best.
busta
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