I was quite hesitant to blog about this, because it will remind me of the bad feelings and have the possibility of affecting future job prospects as well, but I wish that this can be a lesson for me to find a better job.
Same as before, there will not be any mentioning of company name as well as the names of the people involved. This is just in case I get sued for slander or whatever.
The interview took more than 3 hrs. I thought that if I did not get the job, it would be a sheer waste of my time. The people seemed unfriendly, almost treating the interviewees as being invisible, or worse, as obstacles in their path since the office was very messy and this made the passageway very narrow. The interviewer showed little sincerity, asking me to type to test my typing speed and yet he walked away while I was typing and I had to retype 3 times before he actually observed it. The pay package was attractive and he also employed me right on the spot.
He called before the actual work started and asked me to memorize 3 pages worth of chart of accounts which was not properly photocopied, with some parts of the codes missing.
On the first day of work, I was hurried to work on drafting financial statements with brief instructions like "just follow the past year workings" and "gathered all the questions together and ask". There was no introduction to the other staff nor was there information about the environment such as the location of the toilets.
The "retired" boss just stood behind or beside me and my friend, watching us work and gave many unhelpful comments such as "Have you finished?", "Very slow", "Time equals to money". When we have questions regarding the work and asked him, he plainly replied, "I don't know. Ask xxx."
He seemed to be very free just continuing his supervision with a lot of demoralizing remarks. I was trying my best to complete the assignment as fast as I could, however, there were problems with the fixed assets. Hence the assignment had to be put aside since that client cannot be contacted to clarify on the matter. The next assignment was completed more or less smoothly. The third assignment had some problems with taxation, and I had no idea on how to proceed since my experience regarding tax was null. The same situation happened, thus the assignment had to be put aside as well.
The next few days were on GST computation for submission. He kept repeating "Must do properly, else will get fine." and "Do faster else late submission will also get fine." Anyone find those comments helpful? They just kept interrupting my flow of thoughts.
I wasn't able to complete the task in a day due to my inexperience on the matter. He kind of forced me to do OT everyday. (There was no pay for OT and he kept glaring at me and saying stuff like "Finish what's for today before you go") I inquired about the urgency of the assignment with my senior and she said that it can be continue on the next day. She left and I was forced to continue finishing the bank statement part with alterations to the format. I knew it was part of my job so I just tried whatever I can.
The next day, I did the rest and was almost done. I had stuff after work and had to go. (The actual dismissal time was 5:45pm but it was around 6 plus then.) He glared and grumbled the same stuff. I left because xxx said I can leave.
The following Monday, I finished the drafted copy and faxed to the client as instructed by the senior. On the copy were the company number and my name for the contact purposes. The phone was with many extensions, so I never took notice when it rang. He picked up and when he heard my name, he eyed me with that suspecting look and questioned me loudly, "Who's that?"
That expression showed me that he suspected that I used the company's phone to call my relatives or friends. How insulting on my integrity! I picked up the phone and talked politely to the client regarding how much he wanted to claim for the GST input. I had to make amendments and to resubmit the amended copy. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until the client's form 5 cropped up. I had to call the client again to instruct him about the form as well as explained the problem. While I was calling, he was interrupting and forced me to listen to his "not-very-relevant" ranting. I did want to ignore him, but he kept calling my name. The assignment had to be delayed due to the absence of form 5
I was rushed to do e-filing in another office nearby. There were two stacks of clients' files and the instructions were given in a flow of words that I tried to catch since there wasn't time to copy them. As it was also the first time I was doing it, I was very slow, being careful and trying to familiarize with the procedures. There was a camera in the room. Never mind about that, I was trying my best to clear those files since I abhorred the thought of the client being fined due to my slowness. The deadlines for the earliest due within those stacks were either way overdue or due on 31 Jan. I made some minor mistakes which I found and corrected along the way. He still came, watching and disturbing with more rantings like "Must look at the payments carefully to avoid paying more than they paid us", "I think you looked smart, but how come so slow". Additional task of printing unread emails from the company inbox and distributing them made me busier than ever. I felt that I was still able to cope well, even though the email seemed to have a problem of jamming at one of the pages. I still completed the task.
One morning, he entered and complained about the toilet rolls being used up so fast and etc, even suspecting that people were taking them home for personal usage. I was really disgusted at his behavior of being so calculative on minor stuff. I mentioned to another senior after he left and she said, "Last time was worse, one roll of toilet paper distributed to each of the staff and ordered them to use for a certain period." Such a weird behavior not observed in previous companies I had worked for.
I worked OT on 31 Jan and completed all the e-filing. When it was 7+pm, while I was almost completing the filings, xxx added a few more such documents for e-filing and I finished them off as well. It was almost 8 before I took a final check at the inbox for new unread mails to print. He entered the room and asked me, "Why you worked until so late?"
He looked at the computer screen and the immediate expression and the tone in saying "What mail are you sending?" was again telling me his thought that I was checking my own emails using the company's computer. What a joke. I explained and left.
The next morning I did as instructed by xxx to change the audit report copies. There was no dustbin in the room and hence, I put the to-be-disposed copies on the floor which I will clear them when I am done. The table was full of documents so there was nowhere else to put them. He entered and rambled on about the papers lying on the floor. I told him there was no dustbin in the room and he merely took a box and labeled it dustbin.
When I returned to the other office to get the documents for replacement, he called me into another room just to talk crappy stuff. He asked if I had questions. I asked about the working environment. (I know it seemed wrong to reflect such stuff from a newcomer but I just cannot take it and asked when the chance came.) I have no idea why I got so emotional while talking, but I asked about the weirdness not experienced in previous companies. His face blackened. He said that if I am not happy, I can leave. I was more or less talking on stuff I could not comprehend, the way we were taken into the job, the way of addressing colleagues, the way he watched us until I felt like a prisoner when I wasn't even slacking at all and and the way he kept talking and interfering with our work when he do not seemed to understand.
He took me into another room and more quarrels and unfriendly words broke out. On the first day at work, he said stuff like "When you come late for work, you can compensate the hours by working during lunchtime, take home to work or continue after working hours", compensate what when the senior told me the previous girl before me quit because she was given the same wrong idea as me, the pay will still be deducted as usual, no compensating hours such stuff. He said about me asking too many irrelevant questions about work when what I asked is to ensure my work is done properly with the emphasis of filing on time, without paying more than insured. He also mentioned on my interview that I can learn while working, now gave me this kind of crap. He can say one thing and the next moment do the opposite thing. He mentioned that I could clear all my doubts in one shot by asking him right after I completed my assignment.
I told him that it was simply not true when the actual response will just be another assignment handed to me. He agreed until so reasonably, then what was the previous sentence for?! He even said bad stuff about the senior was acting when all along I was working next to her. She was there for 5 yrs and still has to be subject to such accusations. He did mentioned about why he have to trust me, and I agreed that trust was not given outright but to supervise until such extent that he really made me so uncomfortable, he should just do everything on his own. I just cannot get my point across and I was really pissed. I just wished he will understand but need not agree with me. He merely used the past to impose on the present.
The most upsetting part was when he said I never completed a single thing during the few days I worked. I did so much stuff that I can list and even worked OT without pay just because of responsibility and his words made my blood boiled. It was as though all my efforts had gone down the drain. I replied, "Just give me my salary and I will leave."
I defended that my questions asked was not irrelevant by telling my discovery that morning regarding a client's company type. He demanded to know which company. He really shouted at me. I was so upset, chiding him straight in the face that since he wanted me to leave, on what basis should I tell him that. He just said I probably cannot even remember the company's name.
They later asked me if I still wanted to continue working under the same supervision. I said I wished to work for long term, but the working environment just does not suit me. They asked if my friend wants to leave as well, I merely said "You have to ask her yourself." I even asked kindly whether my resignation was too sudden, and whether they needed me to work for a few more days in order to find a replacement. They just don't appreciate, so I left on that day. Why did I even bother asking...?
While packing stuff, I told xxx that even if I could not remember the company's name, I did recall one of the director's name and signature.
I have answered properly for the work I did but I was still left upset at all those hurtful words and actions. I was angry at the man, but I will not direct my frustrations to the rest, and so I left with a clear conscience.
To me now, I guess working environment as well as culture matters more than pay.
