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Does anyone notice the contributions you make at work?


LoneWolf

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Do you ever find yourself realizing that for all the contributions you make, nobody notices --because nobody really has a clue what you do? 

 

They know they need someone in that job role.  But, they have no idea what the role really does, what it takes.

 

Fix a security risk --nobody notices, because while insecure, the thing they needed worked.

 

Fix something else --get pointed out what isn't done, or has yet to be fixed, rather than seeing the forward progress.

 

See what you're doing, know you've made things ten, twenty, fifty times better than they were when you started; and you're the only one who gets it, even when what you've done is noted in your weekly progress sheets.

 

Sometimes --I feel like that.

 

 

 

 

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nobody notices

 

That's something I strive for on most of my projects - I want my work to be transparent to the people who use the system or building that contains the work I designed.

 

When it doesn't work, that's when people notice.  And that's not what my customers paid for.

 

The lights come on when they flip on the switch, the computer comes on when they plug it in, every day, day in and day out.  People very seldom think about the electrical systems that surround them, which is a good indication that those systems are operating properly.

 

And not only do most people not understand my work, a fair number of people are afraid of electricity; more people than you might think. 

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I'm sorry - I know what it's like.

 

But I made a job change last summer and this place is really good about that kind of thing.  Just had my review and they had lots of good things to say.

 

I hope you get the recognition you deserve.

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If everyone noticed, they might feel entitled to tell you how to do your job as though they know how to make it all work.  Count your blessings and remind yourself that some poor slob has it a lot worse than you do.  For me, not only do people not notice what I contribute, but they're busy holding a microscope over elements of the work that have limited relationship to what I actually do that makes the process successful.    

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There's a highly visible component to what I do and people notice that. They see me at public functions and events and they see the stories I've written and the picture's I've taken. And if they see something they don't like, they're welcome to call me and complain. I'm here to listen.

 

There's also a quiet, invisible part of my job. One shouldn't notice the spelling and grammatical corrections I've made, the small wording changes to clarify an item or the many other little things I do. 

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That's something I strive for on most of my projects - I want my work to be transparent to the people who use the system or building that contains the work I designed.

 

When it doesn't work, that's when people notice.  And that's not what my customers paid for.  So your nickname isn't Sparky? :D

 

The lights come on when they flip on the switch, the computer comes on when they plug it in, every day, day in and day out.  People very seldom think about the electrical systems that surround them, which is a good indication that those systems are operating properly.

 

And not only do most people not understand my work, a fair number of people are afraid of electricity; more people than you might think.  As well they should be!  There is a lot of energy lurking in those wires!

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Yes and no.  No one here understands what the Internal Auditor does, just that we have to have one.  I report to the Supervisory Committee every month and tell them what I'm doing, not just the monthly audit reports but what I'm doing to make the organization function better.  I'm also educating them on their responsibilities, they really don't have a clue as the previous auditor kept them in the dark (she didn't want them asking too many questions).  Last night I taught them how to read financial statements and where to find them for publicly traded corporations.

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I do notice all the work I did was taken credit for by my boss and I was not given any credit for it.. Needless to say it pissed me off enough I quit my job and went back to school full time.

now the company is out of compliance with their trainings and was just issued a 1.5 million dollar fine by OSHA. :)

I was asked to come in and train a few people and I told them how much it would cost since I am now a free agent. They laughed at the price until they found out I was asking less then other trainers around the area.

when they called back again to set up a time, I politely address the situation and told them they were too late, I will be back in school again during their time frame.

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Nope and my annual COLA raises are around 1.9%...and do not keep up with inflation.  I am topped out and my supervisor is a power freak with an attitude.  I have zero motivation.  I am just letting things play out at this point.  

 

My annual performance evals are perfect, but my boss is still a nitpicky rude lady to me.  Did I mention that she called me "rail thin" at a meeting once, because I didn't want to eat donuts at the meeting?  She brought the donuts.

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Yes. Naturally.

 

This year I personally wrote most of the enhancements to our flagship product. I got to go out to one of the user seminars to see how much the customers liked the stuff I put together.

 

That's pretty good considering I've only worked here since February

 

But I'm one of the folks that actually does the work and contributes to society so that useless hippies can wait for Obammy to give them a handout. I basically fund liberals uselessness, so that makes me sort of an enabler

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When I worked, I always felt under appreciated.  After I retired, many of my ex-coworkers told me that they never realized all of the stuff that I did.  They even tried to bring me back as a consultant, but by then, I had entered the area of permanent retirement.   :)  :)  :)

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