I started a new role about 5 months ago and absolutely hate it. I'm extremely over-qualified, worker retention is low, we are massively understaffed for the volume of work we have, working hours are ungodly (24/7 rotating shift work), and my manager is not helpful at all.
My social life is non-existent. I fucking hate it. I find myself trying to catch up on sleep more than anything because my sleep schedule has to change every 3-7 days due to rotating shifts. I unfortunately don't get to have a 'normal' schedule like everyone else. This makes it very hard to have a consistent schedule and do things at 'normal' times to meet people and branch out my connections.
Recently, our most senior team member resigned because they couldn't get a raise or a position change. I was hired a whole year after them and made more than them. I don't blame them for leaving because I would have as well. This makes me worry about the long term trajectory of this role and my place in this company.
My manager has expressed to me multiple times they don't feel comfortable completing daily tasks that the rest of the team does every day. How can you expect to manage a team if you can't even do the work? If your team is struggling you should be able to pick up the slack, that's literally your responsibility. My manager won't even pick up empty shifts and cover when needed. We are just perpetually understaffed and overworked. Mind you my manager was brought into the team about 3 months before I was hired, from a different part of the company, and didn't learn all of the processes and day-to-day work. Me and the other new hire were taught everything from the senior worker that left.
The work, surprisingly, pays decent but money isn't enough for me to be satisfied in a position. It's mind numbing and boring. I am not engaging in anything technical at all. It's essentially all clerical work. I'm sorry but I didn't go to college for 4.5 years to enter numbers in spreadsheets all day. If that's what you like that's totally cool, but it's not my vibe. In terms of the actual work, this is a massive step down from my previous role.
Our team needs a technical writer, training coordinator, and data analyst at the very least. All of these positions are being shoveled into our laps on top of the massive day-to-day volume of work we have. I'm pretty much refusing to do anything outside of what my contract states at this point.
We have the infrastructure set up to be completely WFH but it's only allowed in limited capacity. My manager wants people to be in office yet they don't assist in the work we do and don't work the wild hours we do. It's completely unfair, we should not be held to the same standard as everyone else when we have a much harder role both physically and mentally.
I don't get paid enough to live near the office and want to move away and completely transition to remote work. I don't get paid enough to show face in office at 10pm or 4am when only 1 other person is around. There is quite literally no need for me to be in the office in order to perform my role. And while the pay is decent, the area in which the office is located is extremely expensive and the pay barely affords someone to live on their own 'comfortably.'
I have been here for 5 months and honestly can't afford a flight home to see my family because the cost of living is outrageous. I spent my birthday (2nd year in a row) completely alone and it really fucking sucks.
Unfortunately, I'm stuck here for at least 7 more months. I'm in a 12 month lease at my apartment and can't break it and afford it nor do I think I could find a job that pays well enough for me to switch in the mean-time.
Looks like I have a long 7 months ahead before I can even ask to transition to fully remote (for fear of being let go before my lease is up, role is in an at-will state) or leave the role altogether.
Lesson learned, money isn't everything and when you are doing interviews you need to be very vigilant on how a company interviews you. Ask a lot of questions and don't stop unless you get concrete answers. If I had more knowledge on this role before I accepted it, I would have never accepted it. Money isn't everything.
I made a huge transition in my life to be massively let down by this opportunity and it sucks.