At the beginning of February 2022, I started working as a low-level manager in a big multinational corporation. This position is my first real job, and I was excited to begin working, earn ends meet, and learn many things. Unfortunately, my troubles began when my colleague was hired for the same position two weeks after I started working. My boss has ever since focused all efforts on mentoring and helping my colleague while slowly ignoring me and isolating me from the rest of the staff. The reason for such actions was that I would not be keeping my job due to not being a good fit for the team, not doing my work, and being too immature for this kind of position. Before I get into why I believe all of those reasons are BS, I need to mention some backstory.
The hiring process started in October last year, and the job listing stated that the position is only for ONE person. I went through two interviews, and when I was in these interviews, I was honest. I was open about my ambitions, as well as my strengths and drawbacks. The entire hiring process lasted about three months before I got a job offer, and my employer didn't mention that TWO people would work in the same role. My boss told me I was selected for the job since I seem highly intelligent and full of potential that my boss once to develop. My colleague's interview process only lasted a week and happened while I started working for the company.
Now onto why I believe all the reasons are BS:
- ''Not being a good fit for the team'' – My boss stated that people did not accept me as their new boss. When I asked for the names of the people who spoke against me and examples of where I did wrong, the boss did not tell me and stated that I had to work it out for myself. That was a big surprise since I felt no bad blood between myself and my team. I have regular coffee breaks with them and speak and treat them kindly.
- ''Not doing my work'' – I was given enormous responsibilities without almost any training and advice on how to do it. Every time I went to my boss for advice, they would say that are too busy and had no time to teach me, all while spending most of the time tutoring my colleague. My boss also stated several times that they have no idea how to do tasks they should know. That would be a good time to mention that my colleague also has no work experience. Not doing my work only meant I wouldn't take responsibility for screwing something up because I had no idea how to do it correctly. I also didn't want to take responsibility for reporting something wrong since my boss told me to cover up certain things.
- ''Being too immature for this kind of position'' – This one speaks for itself. My colleague is three years older than me, so my boss thinks that the colleague is way more mature than I am. While I am young, I believe that age is no reason to assume that someone is mature. I have seen some people I work with being more immature than I am.
I believe my boss does not want me to advance to a higher position since I stated that one of my ambitions is to become a CEO one day. They even said that wanting to be the boss is lousy thinking, even though I said I want to get to that kind of position with hard work and knowledge. I also believe my boss wants to get me fired since my colleague has friends and acquaintances that can vouch for them, unlike myself, who doesn't know anyone personally in the organization.
I sent an official email to my boss stating that I would not stand for this kind of treatment, but all of that has fallen on deaf ears. I tried getting HR involved, but it's clear that they don't want to get involved in this situation.
My work contract will expire in three weeks, and my boss is offering me a position with worse working conditions and less pay. I told my boss that they either let me keep this position, find me a job with the same pay grade or write me a letter of recommendation. Upon pressing for the letter of recommendation, my boss was visibly shaken and confused.
Should I stay and fight for my job and dignity, or should I leave the company and never look back? I have a few interviews lined up with other companies, so I am not leaving unprepared.