I'm 25 (male) been working at an Interior Design company for a little shy of 2 years now.
After an informative year, of learning a lot on the job and really assessing how people interact with each other (especially my Employer “boss” ) and solve problems in the office. in short, the office does not have the usual departments. NO HR for one is the first thing I noticed.
I came into the company with a real drive to know and to ask, constantly asking questions as I was told and have seen it to be too. THE MORE QUESTIONS YOU ASK, THE BETTER! right. Well as the first year progressed I started to notice different hierarchies and tendencies of not wanting to be asked questions by my seniors (maybe because i was the youngest hire) , sending emails with very minimal explanations, and sending me to sites with no numbers to contact, fine yes “experience” right? I'm supposed to be exposed to these environments. Projects are handed out with no coordination on who is the project leader and who helps, it's sort of a YOLO, he you go. You do the accounts, you do the logistics, you do the drawings, and you do the Bill of Quantities and last but not least you also be on site. This is how the company has functioned for the past 10 years. Needless to say, more than 10 employees have left within that span of time, the longest being present for 5 years to date.
I won multiple Tenders for the UN organization this year. Conveying very strong presentation and communication skills.
Today Upon arranging a meeting with the client for a site visit at 10 am and everyone ready to do an early setting, I alerted the boss and this was his response: ” Why are you contacting the client?”, you don't have enough experience and you should not be talking to them. Tell your team leader to organize everything, you should not be in contact, even at the site when they ask, tell them to talk to MR. —- , i don't want things to go wrong. i have told you this multiple times.
Bare in mind I have talked with multiple clients throughout the year, and most times on his account. this hit like a truck as i was disappointed that he did not see the initiative I took to outline the needs for the project. needless to say, i believe this is a tactic to get me stuck in this seat and make me feel like im not doing enough, so i may keep being a “good boy”.
At 25 i think i have enough time to make my mind up, and i know i am only here for the experience. but man i just noticed this employment lifestyle is definitely not something i want to be doing 2 years from now.