New hire left abandoned with no training or assigned work—boss starts insisting they get more work done and "learn by doing"—they consider quitting: 'I told him that I didn't get any proper training'

No one has shown me the proper procedures…

While that facade is maintained during the interview process, the truth soon becomes clear. As soon as they start their first day on the job, the cracks will start to show. There's no one to train them, scarcely any documentation to even read. Everyone seems stressed and out of time, or like they just can't be bothered to help out.

Soon you're treated like a nuisance, and you aren't getting any work assigned to you, and you begin to wonder what you're even doing there.

Many of us have experienced something like this. Those of us who manage might even have been guilty of doing this to a new hire. Whether it was our fault because we were just so busy or the organization just didn't put much into these kinds of things. Either way, it becomes quickly apparent that there is an issue when the new hire just stops showing up in the first few weeks.

That's what this new hire is considering doing after finding themselves left hung out to dry on multiple issues, and their boss insisting that they “work more” despite there being no work at all for them to even do.

I do think there is something to be said here about being able to “fake it until you make it” and using resourcefulness to solve issues on your own. Oftentimes, it's initiative, confidence, and the appearance of business that managers want to see rather than anything else. You could be disastrously and belligerently bad at your job, but as long as you are really good at selling what you are doing and seem like you know what's going on when you open your mouth, then everyone up the chain will think you're a savant. Meanwhile, the actual savant who is bad at communicating and struggles every time they're asked a direct question will be left with managers giving them sideways glances, wondering if they're getting much done at all.

I think, if you're more like the latter example, you probably adhere more rigidly to rules and the thought of making up something that isn't true on the spot is abhorrent to you. You'd rather go away and do the research and make sure that anything you say is exactly correct. Unfortunately, this comes across to those who don't think like this as uncertainty or a lack of confidence. Which can be metaphorically fatal for you organizationally. 

And it all goes back to appearances. So much of your “success” depends on this. And while that doesn't mean that this isn't a bad situation (it is), I think there is still a lot that can be learned from it. As one reader put it, “Play the corporate game, or it will play you.”

Have a read below of the original story that was shared with this popular workplace community where workers gather online to air their grievances in employment, office culture, among other workplace issues. 

Afterwards, feel free to let me know what your thoughts are on this topic. 

New Job. My second week. Everyone is ignoring me. No one showed me anything and no one told me what [to] do

source: Jauzfaktnemuzu

Onboarding Started last week at new office job. The Manager did the "Onboarding". Like 30 Minutes. Then I got an IT "Onboarding" again around 30 Minutes. Then I was supposed to do the "Company University Training". That was like 2 days watching Videos and doing tests about the "company values".

Then I searched through the Company drives and read like 50 Procedure Manuals, anything I could get my hands on to understand my tasks and job. This was mostly through my own initiative. When I asked for work or guidence they told me that its my first week and I should at first "settle in".

Manager showed me one single procedure/program in like 5 Minutes. That was my first week. I also had IT problems in my first week (this has supposedly never happened to any employee before) and spent like 2 days solving them on my own by communicating with IT. The last two days, I got one mini task that took like 2 hours - sorting some old files. My senior colleague (who is supposed to do my training/onboarding? I dont know) is always busy and has shown me one small program in about 10 Minutes.

Imagine a procedure are 10 steps and they have shown me step 1 + half of step 5 lol. I am at a loss here. Im not even sure I want to work at this company anymore. It looked so much better from the outside.

Today Boss called me into his office and told me to "work more". I told him that I didnt get any proper training. No one has shown me the proper procedures. He insist to just "learn by doing". I have no idea how to even work. And even if I did, all the paper work would be bad because I dont know how to do it properly.

I want to leave already.