How do I fight off feelings of rebellion at work?

Question

I temp as a secretary. However, deep down, I am rebellious and hate rules. I'm in a temp booking where I have been asked to make a cup of tea for a gentleman who will be coming into the office this afternoon. Although I have accepted this on the surface, I can feel the feelings of resentment/anger welling up inside me already. I want to progress into permanent PA work and I know this will involve me having make the occasional drink for managers, etc, but I get so inwardly inflamed!!! How can I get over this, or am I right in that I shouldn't be making refreshments for visitors/clients after all?

Answer 1

Oh god i feel your pain. I have been a PA for the last 5 years and Secretary for 3 before that. There are so many things that i love about being a PA - involvement with top level management, event management, project co-ordination. But the things that I hate are making drinks, filing and the general go-fer stuff that any idiot could do. There is a misconception within many companies that if you have chosen a career in Administration then you must be stupid, blonde and without any common sense. I have learnt to accept the stuff that i hate like making drinks, and you have to as well if you want a career in admin.. but always do it with a rebellious streak.
For example, a couple of years ago i had a boss that would literally slam his cup in front of me each morning as his way of asking for a coffee, and we had a system whereby the managers and directors would provide money (that was later claimed back natch) for the tea fund. My boss thought it appropriate to literally throw pound coins at me when i requested money.. like I was a slave, or worse - a lady of the night. But little did he know that every biscuit that he ate was out of the drawer where mouse droppings lay next to the packet (don't ask - it was a nightmare of a job), and that occasionally his lovely hot coffee that he was sipping had had a rinse out with any off milk in the fridge. Not enough to poison but certainly enough to make his stomach quelch. I remember there used to be an amazing PA Secrets website a while ago where PAs used to go and dish the dirt and get tips on how to deal with their foul bosses, but i think it has since closed. One girl on there used to pee on her bosses seat and let it dry overnight every day of her employment with him!
Remember there are a lot of perks and rewards being a PA, my best friend has just been bought an Ipod Nano video for her birthday and i regularly get taken out for dinner by my ex boss still. It is a job that i love desperately but the drinks and the slave treatment is the worst part of doing our job. Be warned of admin heirachy as well - old school v new school! Your fellow PA's and Secs can be worse than any boss for treating you like the dogsbody of the office when you first join a job - remember to stick up for yourself and when you are busy, you are busy.. you only have 1 pair of hands.

You would no doubt feel a lot better if you weren't temping and were able to put your stamp on the role - i would look for a perm position asap so that you can make the role your own. Temps are always the worst treated out of anybody.

But as for tomorrow - make the coffee and take your time over it. Remember that they are paying you to do that rubbish and it is their money that they are wasting while you could be doing something else a lot more beneficial to them.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I know these feelings all too well. It's a catch 22.

While some employers actually want to work with you, (can express your likes & dislikes and something actually gets done about it) because they want to keep you, you have twice as many that won't.

I was told once while serving as a temp... This is part of the job requirements and either do it or find a different job. I knew that some of the work being asked of me was well below my position, however, they pulled out the big guns.. you know, being a TEAM PLAYER.

You don't get a taste of what it is like on the other side until you have actually owned your business and had to hire employees. I finally understood then.

Now I can summarize a job description as follows: Doing what it takes (within reason and within the law and safety rules) to make money. If your duties do not fall into that, then it is time to get a new job ASAP. However, weigh the options. Is it just an annoying task from time to time? How well do you enjoy the job otherwise?

The best part is: You don't have to stay there! However, you will find that any job you are assigned has it's pitfalls. You need to ask yourself if it is truly that difficult to suck it up and just do it. Keep in mind that if you refuse, your boss will either find someone else to do the refreshments or you may just be out of a job. Is it really that bad?

You can look at it as taking a little break from "real" work. If you put some effort into it, I know some interns that memorized what the clients drank and their favorite snacks and believe it or not got a juicy job. HE remembered all the little details of what the clients liked and disliked so when it came to handing out his resume, he was remembered by one of the clients! and NO his new job doesn't require him to do little extras for clients, he has an intern of his own to do those things!

Half full or half empty?

Answer 3

We all have to do things we would rather not , especially in the work place !!
If you are to progress to permanent staff and then forge a career you simply have to accept these issues with good grace ,however maybe the odd little inwardly curse will help you be more acceptable to these sort of issues .
The alternative is to be awkward and openly display your displeasure , but II am sure you know which path that might lead you down
Just make that tea , and don't sugar it !!!
Good Luck

Answer 4

You are a secretary!!

You want to be a PA??

Mines a coffee with two sugars and milk please!!!

Its part and parcel of the job!!! I used to rep around different companies and came into contact with many a secretary, most of whom seemed to think they were the owners of the company!! Many of the buyers, higher managers, even MD's had better attitudes than the secretaries!!

You are a secretary!! thats it!!

If you don't like making cups of tea, find another occupation because you ain't gonna like being a PA either!!

Please note - you are in a customer services role and you are there to represent the company!!!

Answer 5

One thing that your dream centres around is conviction; you did not change your stand against the oppressive ruler even when they took your friend away and then later, imprisoned you. You might have experienced fear and paranoia while imagining these things but one thing that gets the better of our fears while we dream is curiosity. It is because we want so eagerly to know what our dreams might reveal to us that we continue with them despite scary situations. As for the symbolism in your dream, clearly, the clash with authority. To reassure your mind of your sanity, you could have created your friend to provide legitimacy for your rebellion. Then there is the burden of enlightenment aspect -- that you know what others, even those close to you, have no clue of. It is their ignorance (mindless zombies) more than their complicity which makes them go after you. The most important part about a dream can be what it makes you feel about it. Rebellion can give a feeling of individual liberation, even an unsuccessful one, since it is not the success of revolt which sets us free but the very act of rebelling. If by the end you feel weird and disappointed about having to see people turned into zombies, then your dream may be a message; it could be that you have felt the urge to generate public discourse about various propoganda.

Answer 6

To be completely honest, if you are getting into the role of PA/secretary, this is the kind of things you must accept. People pay PAs & Secretaries expecting this kind of job to fulfilled as they have a need for it.
If you don't like the work, you've gotta find another job (and the best way to satisfy your need for a more demanding job, is to learn and become more qualified).

But believe me, i wouldn't take it as too much of an insult, even the people highest up get asked to make a drink at times...

Hope this helps!

Answer 7

I took a job as a PA - lasted 4 days. I couldn't take having to make all those damn cups of coffee, and going into his office every morning to tell him what is day was going to be. I felt like a babysitter and hated every minute of it. But is was part of the job.

Also, being a PA means you will be involved in some aspects of their personal life - my ex-boss would have affairs whenever he went away on business.

Guess thats why you need to be discreet if you are a PA!

Dont do it lol

Answer 8

I presume you are relatively young (say, 18 - 26?) and in your type of work, I think you should do it. When I was an apprentice Engineer, many moons ago, I used to make tea for my superiors, go for their sandwiches at lunch-time, etc, but looking back I felt it was good training of the mind.

I am now working in oil - and have been for 27 years - and looking back it was a good thing.

Believe me, there are always better things around the corner!

Answer 9

The only solution is to plan to get out. Put yourself on the path to a better education and a real career now! You'll be amazed how magnanimous you can be about your job when you know you don't have to stay for much longer.

The alternative is to accept that you will always wait on some geezer hand and foot. Doesn't sound appetizing to me.

Answer 10

Wherever you end up, suggest they buy a fancy coffee machine for the meeting room and then they can make coffee all by themselves!

I think it's a darn cheek to treat PAs like servants! Maybe a little laxitive would put them off wanting coffee ;)