Thursday, March 16, 2006

Not a mind reader

I am not a mind reader. I never was, I never will be.

If you ask for the "ABC partnership agreement" I'm going to give you the ABC partnership agreement. If you really meant "ABC purchase agreement" then please state you need the "ABC purchase agreement." If you don't know what you want, don't expect me to know.

On Monday you requested something be done a particular way, so I complied. However, on Thursday, you wanted the same thing done a different way. Fine, I again complied. So, on Tuesdays which will it be? Does it change with each phase of the moon or am I supposed to magically figure it out. If there is no consistency, then do not expect me to be consistent. If I ask clarifying questions it is not to annoy you, but to ensure that I accurately perform the needed tasks correctly at that exact moment in time.

Without direction or guidance I will not be able to achieve that which you desire. I will do the best I can, but clearly that was not enough.

Vague, ambiguous statements like, "We not going in the right direction" aren't helpful, so I wish you luck in finding a mind reader, though you may consider making up your mind first.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, those ambiguous statements are all you'll ever get, no matter what. They cover all potential reasons, fair or foul, including:

"The boss's wife doesn't like how the boss looks at you."

"The power-lording head secretary thinks you're too smart." (how many paralegals have a four-year college degree? I have seen that cause resentment in clerical pools.)

"We just like to can someone every now and then to keep the rest on their toes."

"We overhired and can't afford you."

"You need to go back to kindergarten for some heavy remediation in alphabet-recitation and listening." (Not in your case, but it's why I had to let someone go recently and I said all the typical vague bull. Because, whenever I tried to get more specific, she just argued about how nothing was her fault.)

Or, most likely, they really wanted 5-10 years of experience but did not want to pay the required salary to get it. In my experience (both observational and personal), that's a very common thing to have happen in the legal world. Therefore, it's a perfectly acceptable explanation for why something went south: "I was honest about my experience; they weren't honest about their needs."

Good luck.

Becky said...

Well, I did fail to mention that he originally tried to fire me over the phone. He called my cell phone at 4:45 pm on Friday. However, since I was at work, I did not answer it. In fact, I didn't even realize he had tried to calle me until Sat. since I didn't bother to turn my phone back on till then. He did try to call me again over the weekend but did not leave a message. So Monday morning there was a post-it note on my keyboard: "See me 1st thing this morning." Perhaps I should be happy that over the weekend he found the balls necessary to say, "We're not going in the right direction" in person as opposed to over the phone.

Anonymous said...

How crappy. I'm sorry this happened.

Becky said...

Hey, it happens. Perhaps it's for the best. I just figure really good things are coming my way. Hopefully something other than germs!

Pamela said...

Becky, I am so sorry that this happened. That company didn't deserve to have such a wonderful, paralegal. You will prevail, and you will find a much better place of employment very soon. Until then, rest, and take care of yourself. You deserve the very best.

Salsola said...

That firm made a mistake. A good paralegal is a great profit center. Good Luck.