I thought I did my best
@mscongeniality (110)
Canada
March 8, 2012 3:10am CST
Yes, just like the song "I did my best but I guess my best wasn't good enough".
And so my story goes like this. I am so happy to be hired again in an office environment because having a job in an office is my best interest. Though I got a job which isn't really my interest the important thing is I stepped in to the workplace wherein I can start and afterwards move forward to the area which I wanted to do. Confusing but it is true and just to protect the people at work I just decided to simplify it that way. Anyway, I was hired through an agency and for what they told me this is a temporary job but there is a possibility to be hired as permanent employee in the future. And so I am glad and happy to accept it though the HR manager said that I might get bored because it seems that I have lots of administrative experienced. Oh well, still every one has something to start with specially when you are a new comer on this city. And so days has passed and it became months till counting to 6 months. Waiting for them to decide and hire me as permanent employee and be part of their team. I worked very hard and even accepted tasked that were not part of my responsibilities, except when I have work load that need to meet deadline. Until one day my agent from the agency told me to pay a visit to their office and said that we have to talk. Without any knowledge of what is going on I decided to come to the office as she instructed me and to my surprised they decided to pull me out of the assignment because the company said that they need to let me go. Wow! all these months I thought Im doing well and expecting that they are going to hire me just because I have stayed there for too long as for a probationary period for all I know. It is sad to go that way because I don't even have a chance to say thank you for all the people I worked with and who are close to me that became my friends. So I just emailed them and told them that I will not come back to work again. Some of my co-workers said that they are very disappointed because for all they know I am doing fine at work. And I am also disappointed because I think there is no fair judgement. I don't hear anything from my supervisor at least let me know what went wrong and give me a chance to hear or defend my part. Even the HR department didn't talk to me of anything. I got confused on everything. My agent just told me to think it this way, the assignment is finished and they are my employers not the company I am working with. Is this really how an agency worked? Because of this my motivation and eagerness to work with this agency lessen. I don't know, I think I need some enlightenment or advice.... Because in my case as immigrant it is really hard to find a job in a country you are very new and without network as they said. In a country you are just starting to learn about their way of living and all I want is to have a job so I can survive in this country.
5 responses
@TrvlArrngr (4045)
• United States
12 Mar 12
This is happening more and more. I am so sorry you had to go through it. I hope you find something much better real soon.
@mscongeniality (110)
• Canada
13 Mar 12
I am hoping the same way too. A job which is much better and real soon.
@bostonphil (4459)
• United States
9 Mar 12
I did temporary work for several years and had some very bad experiences. I would leave an assignment and go home only to get a call from the temporary service telling me that the job had ended and do not go back without any further explanation. But this would happen after just several days on the job.
The company you worked at must have had some satisfaction with you that you worked there 6 months. But they did not handle the end very well. It would have been kinder and more appropriate if they had told you that your last day was going to be Friday or whatever day the job ended. That way you would have had a chance to say goodby to friends. It would have been nice for them to say thank you after 6 months, maybe even a cake or card.
So on one hand, there had to be some satisfaction with your work, but on the other, there was a problem that you were pulled off the job the way you were.
I hope the temp service will place you on another assignment.
@mscongeniality (110)
• Canada
13 Mar 12
Well, I think they did have satisfaction on my performance coz 6 months is a long time to be a probationary period. As the other people said that maybe this company don't really have a plan to hire a permanent staff for that position. But they are not that kind enough to handle how to pull me out in a nice way. I was really upset with this because I was hoping a better move from them like keeping me as permanent employee. Or even tell me what went wrong. Anyway, things happened and life has to move on. I hope that I will find a job were people can give me more respect.
@flamez3r0 (319)
• Puerto Rico
8 Mar 12
I'm sorry for what happened to you, but it is not uncommon. In my country (Puerto Rico) private companies can contract temps for some months before having to make them permanent, which would mean paying insurances and some other benefits. So what they do is simply contracting a bunch of temps for some months, and when the time to make them permanent comes they just fire them all and get more temps in their place. This means that they save money from benefits, although it comes with the price of lacking experts on the work because new temps have no experience. However, since the economy is trashed up, there is an infinite supply of new temps looking for jobs, so they can keep replacing people indefinitely. It sucks, it's mean and evil, but it happens a lot. From what I can read from your post, they did the same to you in that company. If that's a common occurrence where you live, then get ready to live it a lot, and judging by the consolation they gave you at the agency it seems it is, and they know about it. I tell you this not to frustrate you, but to confirm that the problem is not with you. The fact that they gave you no explanation means they had none, since people with power enjoy nothing more than rubbing mistakes on other people faces. Expect stuff like this to happen a lot, but if you are lucky you will be assigned by the agency to some starting company which will really make people permanent. Don't give up and keep trying your best because, even if the world is screwed up, I know it's possible to survive :).
@craziestqueenever (1819)
• Philippines
9 Mar 12
I've been in your situation. It's when we "thought" that we are best, we thought that we are good enough,but the truth is it's only us who knew it. That's a sad reality of life.
It might be that the company or the agency is down-sizing. But, it's okay, it's done. Sometimes life pushes us so hard. It's either we fight for it or just go with the flow.
Just think of it as a way to improve your skills. Sometimes we become to complacent.
@dazzledlady (1618)
• Philippines
8 Mar 12
It is sad and heartbreaking for you to work hard and not getting the job. But I think in some way you might have lead yourself to think that they might accept you because you have very good credentials. But as it happened they are not looking for an employee were you really qualified, they were looking for something lesser. And some company I know of wants to hire from agencies and do the contractual thing because it is cheaper . They can save a lot from the benefits they are going to give to the regulars. I guess you just have to move on and look forward to the next job. And do not expect to much especially when they say its temporary because nowadays when they say its temporary it is indeed temporary. What you have to do is express all the negative feelings and the frustrations to a friend. It will help you feel better. And do not give up, someday you might land a job better than that. Maybe it was not meant for you.
@mscongeniality (110)
• Canada
13 Mar 12
Thank you for the nice advice. I am hoping that too, find a better job that I will enjoy and have the full benefits an employee should have. I know I can't get it from an agency. So I have to apply directly to the company. The thing is, I realized that in this place everything is networking you need to know somebody who works inside the company to get a job. Especially when you are a newcomer. That's is why I end up seeking the help of an agency. Anyway, I'll just cross my fingers hoping that I'll met a person who will give me a chance to prove my skills.
