Having worked as a "temp" for this company for about a year (and having had a terrible time then, as now, with the job market), I accepted, on 31 August as a permanent employee, the position of Finance Administrative Assistant. My new boss, the CFO, was quite a nice person; he and I got on really well. However, as I discovered to my shock, I was expected to support about 15 people in all! Since I needed a job, and this was the only one that had turned up in several months, I felt I had to take it. Most people were very nice; however, the Controller and most of the directors were another matter; the former, particularly, treated me rather like a scullery maid.
To my disgust, my salary was far too low, even considering that this was a non-profit — and Department of Labour-funded — organization. When I reminded the gentleman who placed me there that I was a college graduate (which was preferred, though not required), the rather officious Human Resources person handling my case said, "Oh, well, Chrissie (my predecessor, who had never had any college) had special word-processing skills." So did I.
Unfortunately, "Chrissie" had no organizational skills what-soever (and apparently did not care); after a few weeks there, I discovered, to my horror, that the better part of two years' worth of filing was in the in box and scattered in the drawers of the credenza.in fact, there was almost no filing system to speak of and, seeing that we were working with government grants, this was of utmost necessity to keep everything in order! It was a nightmare, but, duty-bound and -trained as ever, I set about setting up a really good, well-organized system. (Since at first I had had some difficulty finding certain documents my boss requested, I had to let him know what had — or rather, what had not — gone on.) When I showed Mike what I had done after almost a year there, he was quite pleased; he was particularly impressed that everything was well-categorized and so easy to find.
My boss had the ill luck to fall a victim to corporate politics in November; I strongly suspect that the new vampire COO sabotoged him. Regrettably, with Mike gone, there was no one to call interference between the Contoller and me. I became quite irritated with her and sent her, I must admit, a not-very-nice e-mail, but at least with no nasty language. Being the sort of person whe is, and utterly lacking in empathy or indeed any human skills, she naturally never thought of dealing with me herself.instead, being the tittle-tattler she is, she fired off copies to the CIO (whom I also supported) and Human Resources, and I was firmly rapped over the nuckles.
Meanwhile, the first anniversary of my hiring having come and gone, no performance appraisal, much less a raise, had yet taken place. However, when on several occasions, I reminded the CIO that this was due, he said that he would get together with the Controller and they would do it. I doubt it ever went any further than that.
We then moved — the throes of it taking place the week before Christmas 2002. Naturally, having packed up the absent CFO's files and equipment, I unpacked them right away in the new office. My space was quite something else: not only had I been demoted to a cubicle, but (as with almost everyone else not so fortunate as to have an office), my space was unfinished. It was all I could do not to simply quit on the spot. However, I stuck it out.
However, one of the accounting supervisors — a right royal pain if ever there was one — tended to come up to me at least half a dozen times a day to do things for him. (I had long suspected that he had a crush on me, which annoyed me because he is married, and I am not about to have an improper relationship with anybody else's husband).in my last day there, he kept coming at me with things to do — hopelessly ill-organized — till finally, I had to excuse myself and stop by the ladies' room. As soon as I had made my necessary visit, who should be coming down the hall but Himself — in his usual carressing, almost seductive tone, "Mary, Ma-a-ry..." I was headed to the kitchen to get some water and had had all I could endure; I exclaimed furiously, "I feel as though I'm being stalked!" A decent person would have understood and left me alone; however, this fool kept talking and trying to reason with me.
I was out the next day (Wednesday) with a migraine; on Thursday, I came in to find out that I had been terminated. The new CFO let me know that they simply could not keep such a person as I with my "volatile" temper; the CIO naturally could not miss out on his chance to let me know of my "insubordination." When I reminded them that I had made quite a number of positive contributions to the company — and, of course, of the fact that my evaluation had still not been done, nor any raise offered me, that was all brushed off as totally irrelevant.
Not only are these people totally lacking in understanding or perception — something rather strange, to say the least in an employment-placing business — for my tax dollars, they are an incredibly bad bargain. Of all the cheap, cheese-paring employers I have worked for in the Washington, DC area, these are surely the worst! There are nice people there, but none of them are directors. I hope the Department of Labour will reconsider their funding for Experience Works. No employer which treats their employees this badly (I realize that I am by no means the only one) deserves even to exist, let alone on public funds.
Mary Doe
Timbucktoo
U.S.A.
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