Commercial Property Company No.2
Then they all came back off holiday and the work began in earnest. The first three months were fine, I made friends, I learned the job, and it was comfortably busy – I really enjoyed it. When my probation period was up, I waited an anxious few days to see if they wanted to keep me on or not (as if!) . Eventually, when no ‘formal acceptance meeting’ was forthcoming, I said to my Partner, “About this probation period … ?” “Ah yes,” he said, “I meant to speak to you about that.” He grinned and leaned back earnestly in his chair. “So, do you want the job?” I gave it serious consideration for a good 10 seconds, then said, “Yeah, go on then.” “Good,” he said, and we both went back to work.
Just afterwards, an associate joined the department. I liked her immediately, but she was totally disorganised and a nightmare to work for. The workload increased tenfold, and deadlines for reports became ridiculous – sometimes I’d have three big reports to get out in one day, and there was no support from other secretaries (it wasn’t encouraged at this company). Because I’m (naively) conscientious, I came in early, I worked through lunch and, although I didn’t like it, I occasionally worked late to get the work done. The pressure became unbearable. Sometimes, I would cry in the toilets, knowing a deadline for a report wasn’t going to be reached, and I’d often get home too tired to even eat.
Then, after 17 months of waiting [see Divorce Fiasco for the full story], my divorce finally came through, but my solicitors (who were totally useless throughout the entire episode) had lost the Decree Absolute. I told my Associate I was taking half an hour off during the morning to go to the law courts myself and get a copy – it was important to me. She said, “Make up the time during your lunch hour.” When I pointed out all the extra hours I’d done, she said it was a long time ago (it wasn’t) and that I had to be ‘monitored’ to make sure I made up the time because I left at 5.25pm each day instead of 5.30pm. Five minutes! And this when the other secretary was arriving 10-15 minutes late for work every day! I stopped going in early after that, and told my surveyors I would no longer be working through lunch.
I continued to be deluged with work with unrealistic deadlines. One Friday, the stress of rushing to finish a report in time had me leaving at the end of the day in floods of tears. I’d had enough. The following Monday I spoke to my Partner and told him of my concerns. He said all the right things, but didn’t actually do anything. The workload increased, and the pressure I was under was enough to turn coal into diamonds! I couldn't take it any more. Despite having no other job lined up, I handed in my notice. All the surveyors were disappointed, but the Associate and the Partner said absolutely nothing. At the end of the day I said to the Associate, “I can’t believe I’ve handed in my notice and you’ve not said anything,” to which she replied, “We’ve been busy.” “That just about says it all,” I said, and walked off.
The partner barely spoke to me for the entire month of my notice period – it was a very difficult time. He felt I’d let him down when, in fact, he had let me down by allowing me to become so overwhelmed with work. The Associate wanted to go out for a coffee with me “to pick my brains” so that things could be improved for the next secretary, which I found incredibly insulting. I couldn’t wait to leave.
On my last week, the other department secretary was on holiday. They didn’t normally bring in ‘temps’ unless I was on holiday (which says a lot about who did the most work), but because they knew I was on a ‘go slow’ (as in, don’t pressure me with work any more or I might crack), they brought in a temp - Angela. She was a sassy little thing who, at the end of the second day, said to me, “I’m replacing you until the new secretary starts.” I thought, you can try!
On my last day, I was still trying to clear my desk when a report that needed finishing appeared – I didn’t have time to do it and asked Angela if she could. The Partner immediately stepped in and said she couldn’t because she was busy doing his work (Angela later told me that she’d been bored with nothing to do all day). I didn’t do the report so Angela did it in the end anyway. It was just another of those ‘petty things’ that I couldn’t be bothered to get involved in.
At 12.30, I rounded everyone up (except, of course, the Partner who was coming later, and the Associate, who was too busy to attend), to celebrate my freedom in a nearby bar. The partner later showed his face, nervously bought me a drink to add to the line of farewell drinks on the bar counter, and promptly left – no doubt relieved that, in my intoxicated state, I didn’t tell him what I really thought of him. One of the surveyors later had a call from the Partner, telling him to send Angela back – she’d been there with the rest of us for three hours! I eventually sauntered back with my inebriated colleagues about 4 o’clock, to be met by my ‘presentation’ – the whole office gathered around my desk and gave me my leaving card and gifts. They lingered, expecting a ‘speech’ (I didn’t trust myself!) and I waved them all away, drunkenly saying, “Okay, you can go now, I’m embarrassed.” I left immediate afterwards – 4.45pm. My Associate glanced at her watch (hey, its my last day, what can you do, sack me?). I felt the relief flood through me the minute I left the building. It took 2-3 weeks to fully recover and realise exactly how much stress I’d been under.
I expected a ‘leaving interview’ where I could eventually have my say about what had gone wrong and why I was leaving, but didn’t get one. So I sent the Company Partner a letter outlining my 'grievances'. I later received a surprisingly nice letter of apology.
I now work for a large legal firm in the city.
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