I spent years in a field of work (teaching ESL) that, unfortunately, was very fulfilling but had no future or possibility for professional development. It is generally very poorly paying and unregulated. I decided to move into any kind of administrative work. I knew it would be entry-level, but I also have lots of skills gained from teaching that could be put to use in many realms of admin.
Tons of my job applications were rejected simply because I didn't have the experience and was too specialized in ESL. So because I really needed work, I went the route of recruiting agencies, who found me a placement with a giant Corporation. I got week-to-week temp work sitting at a front desk doing very little, but I was grateful to just have some income and to maybe start accumulating admin time for my resume.
When you do work through a temp agency, you have to put in a certain amount of hours before the company can hire you, if they want to. So for 5 months I did this very simple and unfulfilling job, paid by the agency, no benefits or proper pay structure. Then the company hired me on, and I still had to go through the typical 3 months of probation despite having been there for 5 months already.
Last week I hit my limit with the amount of unchallenging and brain dead tasks. I wasn't even answering phones, I was mostly sitting there front and center in a big office with zero privacy and maybe, just maybe, securing parking for staff. It started to really take a toll. So I mentioned in an email to my supervisor that I liked the company, but wasn't happy in this “office manager” (hardly) role, and wouldn't mind a discussion about placing me elsewhere, so I could best be an asset to the company.
On Monday, with no prior warning, HR took me aside and told me I was dismissed with just one week to go before my probation ended. The only reason they gave me was because I was not a good fit for the role.
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