Might be about to be let go. What now?

Growing quickly, but no money? Sounds as if your boss likes having a part-timer working for little money

 

Try naming all of the punters and their respective team from the original AFL

 

I think you need to market yourself better. Should have approached part-time job saying that you really like working there but rather focus on one job. But if they could make it worth your while, that's the job you would choose.

Make them see you as a valuable employee with options instead of desperate.

 

You still bring it, Ace.

 

I was the one who mentioned you might be an editor in a writer's body. And the more I read from you here, the more I think that. You say you are good at many aspects of your job, but you are lacking in catching mistakes. It really worries me and has me reading more into your struggles that you don't realize that this is your primary task as an editor. You can be as friendly as can be and communicate well and be very well organized, but if you don't have that attention to detail, you simply aren't going to be a good editor. It's also a very real possibility that worrying about making mistakes is causing more harm than good. If you are managing editors and you are constantly harping on mistakes, making people explain them and just making them fearful of missing things, then you're doing it wrong.

 

Yeah I think that's it. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, and now with this report under me, I'm worried that any mistake I make can be the one that gets my boss fed up enough to pull the plug. I do understand what my job is, but I wonder if maybe I just don't have the eyes for editing.

When I have my reviews every month, my manager who makes my report will compile the majority of my mistakes into a document and show them to me. I feel two things when I see them...just wondering overall how I could miss things that are supposed to be so easy to catch (so I feel like a doofus a little) and then I feel under pressure when I see an entire page of errors I made. And yes, I know every typo, every missed comma, every sentence I could've written better. It's a tough environment for sure.

But at my other job, where I'm not an editor, my supervisor gives me tasks because she can tell I have a strong attention to detail. It's so bizarre. I wish I understood the disconnect.

 

I really think editing is just something you have or you don't. I've been noticing typos and errors on signs and such since I was a little kid. I think I would be an OK writer, good on deadline and clean but not particularly creative. I think it's one or the other. Very few writers make very good editors, and vice versa. You can certainly learn to be a good editor, but it takes time and repetition. To be great editor I think is just something you have. Same with being a great writer.

 

You say you're a perfectionist and have strong attention to detail, and yet you keep making mistakes in print. How can that be? Are you moving too fast? Maybe you can't stay focused, and that's not good for an editor.

 

I would say you're in a situation where you're going to have to concentrate hard on your work at your full-time job. There is absolutely nothing saying that you can't improve from where you are on that count.

 

See, this is the thing. You do realize that when you're in a performance-improvement plan, it is the editors' mission to find every single mistake or thing you do wrong, compile them, and record it all, don't you? And so, they will.

You won't be able to help looking terrible and feeling even worse. And you can't and won't win. You're in a position where you're being targeted and you now must be perfect. That isn't possible, and that's why I think you're in trouble.

Trust me, I went through something like this, and it will not end well. They're not looking for you to improve. They're targeting you and threatening you if you don't. There is a difference, and you are feeling it. And you will not be compared to anyone else, so you can't use them, or their mistakes -- yes, everybody makes them -- as any kind of barometer. And neither will the editors.

A case is being made against you. It's as simple as that.

 

I appreciate everyone's thoughts, suggestions and ideas here.

I talked to a relative tonight who I can always count on for good career advice. And it's clear that I need a better attitude about the whole thing. I was feeling a bit annoyed and bitter, but I know the best thing is to do is do everything my boss says to the letter. If he said change X, Y and Z, then I'll change X, Y and Z.

I'm going to treat the warning like a wake-up call to get me out of a work rut and genuinely try to improve. Even if it doesn't end successfully, I want to be able to say that I tried, as I've been working for my company for several years now. My boss has shown willingness to be there for me in the past, so hopefully I can give back to him a little and do a good job.

I'll try to remember to bump this thread as meetings and time go on and let you guys know how things are going.

 

Good luck! And keep us posted. Hope it all works out.