Feeling Undervalued
A while ago I was given a really challenging task at work, something I’d never done before and wasn’t trained for. I had to figure it out alone, working late most nights, and the stress got so bad I ended up having a seizure. It was intense.
I did complete it, though it took much longer than expected. Recently I was given a similar but shorter task. Based on what I learned last time, I mentioned to my colleague I could do it in three days.
My colleague responded with, “Oh, how come you want a shorter deadline now?” It felt dismissive, like they assumed I suddenly knew everything just because I’ve done something similar before. The truth is I had no idea how I managed to complete the task, I dont want to give myself any credit i dont think I deserve it because it was a extremely difficult task. I lacked a lot of confidence because of the pressure and because it was something completely new to me.
No one else on my team has my exact skillset, and honestly, the task didn’t even require my background. My colleagues will often say, “You should do it because it’s your role,” while others excuse themselves with, “I can’t do it because it's not my role.” which does make me feel isolated, literally no one on my team has my back
I work hard and give everything into every project and yet I'm still treated as rubbish
I did complete it, though it took much longer than expected. Recently I was given a similar but shorter task. Based on what I learned last time, I mentioned to my colleague I could do it in three days.
My colleague responded with, “Oh, how come you want a shorter deadline now?” It felt dismissive, like they assumed I suddenly knew everything just because I’ve done something similar before. The truth is I had no idea how I managed to complete the task, I dont want to give myself any credit i dont think I deserve it because it was a extremely difficult task. I lacked a lot of confidence because of the pressure and because it was something completely new to me.
No one else on my team has my exact skillset, and honestly, the task didn’t even require my background. My colleagues will often say, “You should do it because it’s your role,” while others excuse themselves with, “I can’t do it because it's not my role.” which does make me feel isolated, literally no one on my team has my back
I work hard and give everything into every project and yet I'm still treated as rubbish
Reply 1
Original post
by AnonymousA while ago I was given a really challenging task at work, something I’d never done before and wasn’t trained for. I had to figure it out alone, working late most nights, and the stress got so bad I ended up having a seizure. It was intense.
I did complete it, though it took much longer than expected. Recently I was given a similar but shorter task. Based on what I learned last time, I mentioned to my colleague I could do it in three days.
My colleague responded with, “Oh, how come you want a shorter deadline now?” It felt dismissive, like they assumed I suddenly knew everything just because I’ve done something similar before. The truth is I had no idea how I managed to complete the task, I dont want to give myself any credit i dont think I deserve it because it was a extremely difficult task. I lacked a lot of confidence because of the pressure and because it was something completely new to me.
No one else on my team has my exact skillset, and honestly, the task didn’t even require my background. My colleagues will often say, “You should do it because it’s your role,” while others excuse themselves with, “I can’t do it because it's not my role.” which does make me feel isolated, literally no one on my team has my back
I work hard and give everything into every project and yet I'm still treated as rubbish
I did complete it, though it took much longer than expected. Recently I was given a similar but shorter task. Based on what I learned last time, I mentioned to my colleague I could do it in three days.
My colleague responded with, “Oh, how come you want a shorter deadline now?” It felt dismissive, like they assumed I suddenly knew everything just because I’ve done something similar before. The truth is I had no idea how I managed to complete the task, I dont want to give myself any credit i dont think I deserve it because it was a extremely difficult task. I lacked a lot of confidence because of the pressure and because it was something completely new to me.
No one else on my team has my exact skillset, and honestly, the task didn’t even require my background. My colleagues will often say, “You should do it because it’s your role,” while others excuse themselves with, “I can’t do it because it's not my role.” which does make me feel isolated, literally no one on my team has my back
I work hard and give everything into every project and yet I'm still treated as rubbish
It sounds like you're the sort of person who is prepared to take on any task assigned to you, even if it's not something you know how to do, and you'll put the effort in to do it well. By contrast, your colleagues sound like they're only prepared to take on tasks which fit within the narrow confines of their job role - i.e. things they already know how to do. They won't grow or learn with that attitude.
As a result, you're far more valuable to any employer than your colleagues are. You're also much more likely to learn new things, and hence become even more useful. An employer would rather have one of you than two of them.
It's clear that you did the original task well (even if it took longer than you'd have liked) because when a similar task came along, it was assigned to you. They could just as easily have assigned it to someone else to see if they'd make a better job of it that you. But they didn't. They assigned it to you. That's a good thing.
Also, I'm not sure why you took offence at the, "Oh, how come you want a shorter deadline now?" question from your colleague. It's clearly a stupid question (almost anything will be faster the second time you do it), but it wasn't necessarily meant to be "dismissive". Nor does it sound like they "assumed I suddenly knew everything just because I’ve done something similar before", as they were surprised at how little time you said you'd need. They clearly couldn't hope to complete it in that time if it were assigned to them.
Finally, you say, "I dont want to give myself any credit i dont think I deserve it because it was a extremely difficult task". Those are exactly the sort of tasks you deserve credit for. What's the point in giving yourself credit for doing an easy task?
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Is this right?
- Feeling really hurt at work
- Feeling undervalued
- Work Responsibilities
- Disadvantages of degree apprentices in promotion and further education
- Feeling Undervalued at Work
- University advice
- Medical student needs advice!
- What career path should I take?
- Edinburgh Law/Business LLB through Clearing?
- How to make Personal Statement less generic
- Career Decision Help needed! NHS vs. KPMG
- Medicine, Dentisry or Pharmacy?
- Should I do A-Level chemistry?
- girlfriend broke up with me suddenly.
- Clinical Psychology with a 2.2 (UK)
- OCR A-level English Literature Paper 1 (H472/01) - 24th May 2024 [Exam Chat]
- Education system let me down
- What do I say to comfort people?
- Presentation(stress) Help!
Latest
Trending
Last reply 4 months ago
Best friend is not coming to my birthday party and is instead hanging out with his gfLast reply 8 months ago
parents wont let me take the course i want to takeLast reply 8 months ago
can someone give me advice or like can u relateLast reply 8 months ago
How do I tell my parents I might not graduate for another year?Last reply 9 months ago
Why would a close friend decide to end our friendship?Last reply 9 months ago
How do I tell my parents I'm moving away for uni?Last reply 9 months ago
How does uni accom work? My mums on benefits+she says she cant afford a 2 bed whenigo
How The Student Room is moderated
To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.
