Struggles at Work

[SENKA 0]

I've been in my job for over 6 months now. I work in a finance departmnet of local municipal government. The first five months were extremely challenging, coming from a private sector in Canada, and learning all of US gov. regulations, etc.

My workload has been more than one preson can do in 8 hours, while some people around have all the time in the world to laugh and dsitract me. I sit in a cubicle, and this woman next to me is laughing most of the time, and it is not a normal laugh, I have not heard anything like this in my entire life. Even I complained to my boss numerous times that I can't concentrate, nothing has been done. My stress level is through the roof. It's enough that I have too much to do, but being distracted like that puts me over the edge. My preformace review was excellent, but this whole thing is taking toll on me. They are happy with my work, but I am miserable every single day. They preach how taxpayers' money shouldn't be wasted, and what I see how people do nothing all day long and get paid huge dollars blows my mind.

I was thinking of looking for another job, but everyone is saying I should be in a job at least a year, cuz it doesn't look good on a resume.

Please help, any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Senka

Edited November 10, 2007 by SENKA

[Ban Hammer 13,443]

wear earplugs - or have headphones and listen to music to drown her out.

we got a guy at work with an annoying laugh too

[SENKA 0]

wear earplugs - or have headphones and listen to music to drown her out.

we got a guy at work with an annoying laugh too

I tried wearing earplugs, still can hear her, I tried to listen to Ipod, didn't help...This is beyond control. Other two people complained also, and nothing has been done. I am not sure if formal letter to HR would do any good....

[Kevin and 10]

wear earplugs - or have headphones and listen to music to drown her out.

we got a guy at work with an annoying laugh too

I tried wearing earplugs, still can hear her, I tried to listen to Ipod, didn't help...This is beyond control. Other two people complained also, and nothing has been done. I am not sure if formal letter to HR would do any good....

Write a formal letter and have the other two people write a formal letter too. If nothing get done, move up the ladder.

[rouguewave 7]

wear earplugs - or have headphones and listen to music to drown her out.

we got a guy at work with an annoying laugh too

I tried wearing earplugs, still can hear her, I tried to listen to Ipod, didn't help...This is beyond control. Other two people complained also, and nothing has been done. I am not sure if formal letter to HR would do any good....

Write a formal letter and have the other two people write a formal letter too. If nothing get done, move up the ladder.

Actually, I am not sure this is a good idea since this is the first job and you've been there < year. What you really want is to deal with the source of the disturbance. Can you provide more information about what causes her to laugh so much? Is she surfing the internet and finding funny things? Does she wear headphones so maybe she is not aware of how much noise she is making? Is she talking with others and they are making jokes and creating noise?

What I will lead to is the possibility of talking with her and seeing if maybe you can deal with it more directly. She might not realize how much noise she is making. Working in office cubicles (instead of closed offices) can be hard because there is no privacy. If you talked with her, and expressed it in terms of "noise" instead of laughter it might help. You could explain (nicely) exactly what you have here, that you are new and really trying to do a good job. While you are learning, you are more pressured so noise distractions are more noticable to you. It might be even more successful if you didn't confront her in the cubicle (within sight/sound of the boss) but instead invited her to coffee or lunch as a friendly gesture.

Another aspect of this approach is to frame it in terms of yourself, instead of her. "I'm new so I get distracted very easily", "I'm trying to do a good job at my 1st position here, so I could use your help", "after I've been here a while, I'm sure I'll get used to the background sounds". This gives her a chance to feel compassion and consideration for others, instead of feeling attacked and criticised. She might simply be unaware. Noone may ever have mentioned it. And even if she doesn't consciously change, there will probably be some adjustment that will occur. Especially if she thinks you're a nice, friendly person.

You might also check the kinds of earplugs you're using on your iPod and consider a different kind. If they are normal earphones or headphones, they aren't really designed to block external noises. you might try earbuds (fit inside ear) or try a noise-cancelling variety. Most of the technology today is such that they can block external noises pretty well, and it sounds like the ones you are using aren't.

Finally, recognise the fact that you might be overly sensitive because you are new and want so hard to succeed at this. These types of things will happen throughout your career. Its hard for managers to deal with situations like this (I know they are supposed to) if they are space constrained and / or on a limited budget. Some managers are just weak, ambivalent, or just don't want to deal with "quality of worklife" issues. But what YOU want to get from this manager is an EXCELLENT review and recommendation, if you stay and when you leave. Going around them to HR exposes them, even if it solves your problem. Escalating the problem might not get you the best long term results, even if it does provide a short term solution.

[trailmix 77]

I was thinking of looking for another job, but everyone is saying I should be in a job at least a year, cuz it doesn't look good on a resume.

I think the line you wrote above is your answer really. I personally wouldn't worry about what anyone else is telling you, you are obviously ready to move on to a new job.

Who cares what it looks like on your resume? I would venture to say that most people have at least 1 job of short duration on theirs. People change jobs all the time, no employer should be actually surprised by it, if they view it as a negative - well nothing you can do about that really.

Anyway, you are employed right now, so this is a good time to start looking at other jobs and see what is out there, go for a few interviews and then decide if you need to stick it out in the mad house for another 6 months.

[JODO 2]

Life is too short to put up with stupidity. Resign.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

wear earplugs - or have headphones and listen to music to drown her out.

we got a guy at work with an annoying laugh too

I tried wearing earplugs, still can hear her, I tried to listen to Ipod, didn't help...This is beyond control. Other two people complained also, and nothing has been done. I am not sure if formal letter to HR would do any good....

Hey Senka,

I work in a cubicle also, and I'm easily distracted by people's voices near me. I have those old fashioned headphones that cover my entire ear and I'll turn up the volume high enough to drown out everything else. I even get annoyed listening to music constantly or the kind of music, so I switch from electronic to old cowboy music.

Here is this very cool site, Free Sound:

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/

I browsed around and found some really good nature sounds that amateurs recorded directly from nature:

Do a search for this one as an example:

Birds at Dawson Flower Farm near Camden in South Arkansas

.....

But as for this woman's laugh - I'd say something to her directly...waiting for the next moment she laughs, I'd pop my head over the cubicle or go over to her, smile, and say politely, "(Her Name), could you keep it down a little?" Wait for her reaction, which will be a mix of embarassment and shock, and let her acknowledge what you said. You may have to remind her several times and then if she becomes indignant or confrontational, that's when I'd take it up to HR, because it is now a conflict between the two of you. You have every right to work in environment where you can do your job effectively and efficiently. I know that most people don't like confrontations but that's really the only way this woman is going to realize that her constant laughter is distracting.

Edited November 10, 2007 by Mister Fancypants

[Ladylethal 12]

Talking about job stress, well, I work at a call center, which is bad enough as it is, but with the economy so bad here I haven't found anything else. Anyway, last week we found out the call center will be closing at the end of December, meaning, I'll be unemployed, of course that while I look for another job I still have to work there, but a job that was already crappy is becoming unbearable, as we know there's no future and everyone is in a sort of bad mood and not wanting to do a proper job (me included, although since I've only been there 2 months I'm still on probation, so if I don't do a good job I can still be fired before closing day).

Anyone has any tips on coping with keeping positive while staying at a horrible job where you know there's no future? Btw, add the stress of being in a place where jobs are scarce and things are closing, so I dunno if I'll find something else, when and what will I do bill-wise in the meantime.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Talking about job stress, well, I work at a call center, which is bad enough as it is, but with the economy so bad here I haven't found anything else. Anyway, last week we found out the call center will be closing at the end of December, meaning, I'll be unemployed, of course that while I look for another job I still have to work there, but a job that was already crappy is becoming unbearable, as we know there's no future and everyone is in a sort of bad mood and not wanting to do a proper job (me included, although since I've only been there 2 months I'm still on probation, so if I don't do a good job I can still be fired before closing day).

Anyone has any tips on coping with keeping positive while staying at a horrible job where you know there's no future? Btw, add the stress of being in a place where jobs are scarce and things are closing, so I dunno if I'll find something else, when and what will I do bill-wise in the meantime.

Wow, Laura, that's really bad. Is there any chance you two could stay with a relative stateside, look for work here until you can get a place of your own?

[Ladylethal 12]

We have no close family in the US for us to stay with while we look for jobs, so our options are making it here in PR or going to Brasil and stay with my parents while we figure out where to go from there.

It really sucks, I have a bachelor's in law that's worth nothing here, he's got a bachelor in Biology with a minor in Microbiology but all pharmaceuticals, labs, etc here in PR are closing down. Horrible, really. We feel frustrated being two recent grads trying to start life and having the economy and bad job market against us.

[Jasman0717 9]

Life sucks....then you die

[Ladylethal 12]

:lol: Very true, it's funny how we always look foward to the next phase of life, and when we're there we wish we could go back, like right now I really miss just being in college and stressing over exams and not over jobs.

We'll make it though, there's always something there for smart people.

[Jamie76 0]

Don't quit. Stick it out as long as you can. I'm not sure where abouts you are living, but I had to move from the Wisconsin to Arizona to find a better job in my field. After numerous interviews, second interviews etc, I finally landed this one. It took close to a year. Learn all you can with this job so that you are in a better position to either move up, or move on.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Look for a new job while your at your current one. Don't just quit.