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That's pretty typical. You've got a lot to learn and you're brand new, of course you're going to feel overwhelmed. It's much more of an issue when you start a new job and already feel bored.
I've had several jobs and have always felt overwhelmed at the beginning. They're throwing a lot of information at you all at once. Don't worry, you'll learn it all, eventually. It takes me time. This time next year, you'll be like an old pro. .. I know exactly how you feel, i was like "omg, this is insane" and then like a year later im like "meh, im bored now"
I've had several jobs and have always felt overwhelmed at the beginning. They're throwing a lot of information at you all at once. Don't worry, you'll learn it all, eventually. It takes me time. This time next year, you'll be like an old pro. .. I know exactly how you feel, i was like "omg, this is insane" and then like a year later im like "meh, im bored now"
I would be fine with that happening, getting into a rhythm and doing your job efficiently is one of the simple pleasures of life. What happens more often, though, is that as you get better and more established, people around you get fired and you have to do their jobs too. And that's if you're lucky.. you could just as easily be on the other side of the coin for any or no reason. Welcome to modern corporate America.
You gotta get in the groove of things there at work and it will take a while. My last two jobs they told me it would
take up to 60 days for me to settle in and feel comfortable and confident. So you are perfectly normal.
Of course it's normal. Even if you're starting a new job in the same field as your old ones, the new employer will expect you to do things differently than the last one. Just don't expect too much of yourself, and know that you'll catch on with each passing day. Most new employees feel that way. Also, rest assured that everyone is a new employee at some point in their life, and if you work with the public, most people will understand that you are learning and be patient with you. Congratulations on your new position!
Started new job today and was given whole packet of information to learn, not much of which makes sense right now and I'm feeling overwhelmed and thinking, "I'm never going to learn this! Or alternately, How am I going to learn all this?"
Is that feeling pretty normal for a new job or not?
Yep, been there, learned the hard way, got lots of good advice (Mainly "Don't quit please, we need help") and other golden tidbits...
Started new job today and was given whole packet of information to learn, not much of which makes sense right now and I'm feeling overwhelmed and thinking, "I'm never going to learn this! Or alternately, How am I going to learn all this?"
Is that feeling pretty normal for a new job or not?
Very, very normal. The first two weeks always feel like the first day of school. I generally start to feel normal after six weeks. After 3 months, I generally feel pretty comfortable with my job.
Fairly normal, though I've also had other jobs where I actually felt there wasn't enough work to do. If there's not enough work to do that's a whole 'nother problem itself. As far as feeling overwhelmed, in my personal experience the biggest factor is how you're trained. Ex. I worked for 2 CPA firms. Both "threw you into the fire" as soon as you started, meaning they expected you to learn fast and knew you'd be making mistakes as you learned. The difference is that the first one was a very small firm of 5 people that didn't have any formal training program and the people who were training me weren't very good at training IMO. The second CPA firm had a formal training program and people who were better able to explain what to do. IMO the ideal way to learn is to learn one part of the job first, then once you've done it a few times and feel comfortable learn another part of the job. The whole time you should take notes.
I completely agree but my new employer, a state government agency that you'd think would know better by now having likely trained tons of employees, is throwing a bunch of stuff at me all at once. I get two hours of training on one thing followed by two hours on something completely different and then two additional topics for two hours each after lunch. It's maddening. I know from experience that I would learn better doing one thing at a time and getting some repetition on it until I felt comfortable and then moving on to something else. They eventually want me to be able to do all 4 things I know that but it's difficult to learn so many different things at once, all of which are completely new to me.
I was originally going to be part of a group of three new hires but the other two decided to not take the job two days before they were going to start so I'm the only person they're training right now. Would it make me look bad to say something about how I'm being trained or suggest that I would learn better through the aforementioned method? Or would that make me appear dumb like I'm unable to grasp multiple topics?
I completely agree but my new employer, a state government agency that you'd think would know better by now having likely trained tons of employees, is throwing a bunch of stuff at me all at once. I get two hours of training on one thing followed by two hours on something completely different and then two additional topics for two hours each after lunch. It's maddening. I know from experience that I would learn better doing one thing at a time and getting some repetition on it until I felt comfortable and then moving on to something else. They eventually want me to be able to do all 4 things I know that but it's difficult to learn so many different things at once, all of which are completely new to me.
I was originally going to be part of a group of three new hires but the other two decided to not take the job two days before they were going to start so I'm the only person they're training right now. Would it make me look bad to say something about how I'm being trained or suggest that I would learn better through the aforementioned method? Or would that make me appear dumb like I'm unable to grasp multiple topics?
I currently have the same problem. However, the big difference with me is that I've done barely any real work. Yes that's right, after a couple months on the job I've been given a bunch of detailed notes, which were written by my supervisor, told to study them, and am expected to know what I'm doing. While the notes are very informative, complete with illustrations, I haven't really been given ANY real work. The closest to any real work was a couple of entries into the accounting software program, that's it. Like you, I've been given too much information at once. I doubt I'll ever even be assigned some of the stuff I'm studying. Today, like most days the past 2 months I've sat at my desk pretending to be "studying" my notes. Having nothing to do all day is very stressful. I'm trying to go back to my old job but I'm not sure I can. I know I made a big mistake taking this job and if I can't get my old job back I'm not sure how long I'll last here.
As for you, I think you have to speak up. Yes it's a risk but keeping silent while having them expecting you to learn this way is even worse. And the longer it goes on the deeper hole you dig yourself. At least if you speak up they MIGHT change the way they're training you, though they might not. If you really feel you're overwhelmed, it's best to speak up.
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Yep
