why am i so bad at being employed mk 1422

[minoanmiss]

argh.

I am once again going to get a Talking To at work for Making Mistakes.

I mean, the scheduling guidelines are byzantine. I printed them and the binder is easily an inch thick, and half of them have been changed by now. Still, they are clear and precise.

At the Tufts Inpatient job a friend said I was in trouble because I wouldn't do what I was told, but there I was instructed in very vague and subjective language ("you put the chart together wrong" rather than "stickers go in this section, ER summary here, Dr's notes here" <-- I mean, I had to dissect a chart to figure thatt out because No One Told Me Even In My Alleged Training). Here I have clear and preicse language but SO much of it I think I may be synthesizing it incorrectly.

Or maybe I just suck at being employed.

Comments

[dissectionist]

So, as someone whose job often involves systemizing procedures: the idea of expecting people to remember vast amounts of instructions through memorization is not feasible or realistic. If there are going to be vast amounts of instructions, then there needs to be computer assistance (either programs that walk you through what needs to be done with each call, that only allow correct options to be chosen in a flowchart-style arrangement, or a tracker that runs with each call and shows the appropriate steps when they need to be performed).

You’re not being set up for success if your bosses are throwing a ton of paper at you, expecting you to have some kind of computer brain that can absorb a vast amount of info and then run it error-free on a regular basis. Human brains rarely work that way, especially if there’s regular changes to the source info occurring.

[princessofgeeks]

SO MUCH THIS.

[radiantfracture]

Agree with this. Sounds much more like poor process design than something wrong with you.

[lunabee34]

Utter and complete agreement.

[rafiwinters]

"Computer brain." Thank you for the lovely phrasing.

[rafiwinters]

I'm seconding (or thirding, or how-ever-many-ing) the people who are saying "you don't suck at being employed." Work can just BE difficult sometimes! And maybe you just HAVEN'T found the right work for your yet!

It sounds like you're being expected to follow very complicated procedures with insufficient guidance and that is not something that should happen but alas often does.

*hugs! and come visit*

[lokifan]

Agreed! I'm a teacher and if I need students to follow anything a tenth that complicated, I'm absolutely not just explaining it in clear, precise language and calling it a day. It wouldn't work.

[cellio]

This! If the system is that complex, it requires software support, or scripts, or flowcharts, or something. Not "memorize these 300 pages of rules". Humans don't do that well, but machines can be made to.

[sage]

:hugs you much:

[acelightning73]

You don't suck at being employed. You are too intelligent and curious to "just do as you're instructed". You need to understand WHY they want you to do that thing, and why they want it done a specific and very detailed way. Once you've begun to comprehend the purpose of all this pettifoggery, you may be able to simplify it and make it easier for other people to learn. I know it's nearly impossible, but can you try to dial back your curiosity a little bit, and see if you can find the underlying pattern behind all of the Byzantine rules.

Maybe once upon a time a head nurse tried to set up organizing certain forms of paperwork HER OWN WAY, based on how she liked to organize paperwork. And it just got fossilized that way when someone else took over.

I was once told I was too smart to be good at certain routine clerical tasks, because I asked too many questions. But how does a person learn except by asking questions? Somewhere inside, each of us smart people is a two-year-old asking "Hey, how come we have to wear clothes all the time? How come it gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer? Why can't dogs and cats eat at the dinner table? How come it's raining when I want to play outdoors? Hey, how come I can't drive the car?" "Why is it dark at night?"

It annoys people who just want to not get pestered with questions while they are doing important things.

[colorwheel]

hug

[hammercock]

You don't suck at being employed. You just have never found the right job or employer for you.

Also, some jobs just suck no matter who is doing them.

*hugs*

[flamingsword]

I suck at being employed. All of my disabled friends suck at being employed, my trans friends, my neurodivergents, my anti capitalist friends. We all hate it and suck at it and resent the 💩 out of it. It’s okay. Feeling like you’re bad at this is normal.

If it weren’t hard they’d pay you less. 🙃 You don’t have to be perfect, you just get to muddle through like the rest of us. I hope it resolves satisfactorily for you.