The Group and I’m On the Outside.

by Vanessa
(South Florida USA)

I started working at a reputable Newspaper as a Temp in January 2010 so I haven’t been there that long. Although I work in Circulation the main reason for my hire was to take orders for the New TV Magazine that the newspaper was advertising. The first few months I really took off in the company. I was complimented everyday by my boss and even the Publisher let me know she was hearing excellent things about me and my customer service skills. There was a team of 5 temps and I was the first one they hired and put in charge of training so I knew I was doing a good job! When the advertising of the TV Magazine started to die down and the sales slowed, three of the temps were let go and myself and one other person were asked to stay around, as temps of course because they could not afford to hire us. A few days after they had a little party for people who helped launch the new TV Magazine. My boss and the Publisher both thanked everyone for their hard work and then continued to say how I went out on a limb to make it such a success. GULP. That’s where it starts to get bad.

There are three other women who work in the Circulation Department that have been doing the same job for 10 years and are very bitter. They do not like it when someone comes and takes their thunder. After that party they were cold and favored the other temp by giving her all the work and treating me like an outsider. That is exactly how I felt. One of the women who sits across from me always made snide remarks at me. She has befriended the other temp along with the other two women. The other temp is the same age as me and is smiling and cheerful and bubbly. I was like that once until I was shredded to pieces by these women. They even talk about me when I am there!

I went to my boss about this and she has noticed a change in my behavior and motivation. I told her what was going on and she came back and listed things that the other women saw as my faults. Here are two that I disputed:


1. I am on the phone too long. – Of course I am, I make the phone calls that they don’t want to make. I make over 150 calls a day. They have even made the comment “better you than me”.

2. I return work they give me, unfinished. - Not true at all. I am actually fighting to get work. They are always handing out the work to the other temp and when they say they don’t have anything they are giving extra to her.

My boss really did nothing about it. The other three women always tell my boss what a wonderful job the other temp is doing and now even my boss is starting to show favoritism toward her. She is always getting picked to do special jobs and that really brings me down. I just feel unmotivated to go into work now, but I show up and I do my best. The women are still beating me down and I am ready to move on. I am forced to not be part of this team.

Response from Carl: Hi Vanessa. Sorry about your situation. Since you're in a temp position, I have to ask how long you're planning on staying there? Is is a long term position that you want to concern yourself with or is this a position that was only meant to be a short stint? I guess I'd have to ask how much effort you want to put into fighting for a job that is temporary in nature and that also appears to be causing you such grief. Perhaps the staff you are causing you trouble are lifers who are - as you indicate - unhappy that a new person has come in and perhaps worked harder than they do, which makes them look bad.

While we can't walk away from a job every time we face some adversity, we also need to figure out which fights are worth fighting.

Carl