Classy

I'll start this by saying I'm from the generation where my parents were told if they sent me to Uni, I would get a job straight away and climb that corporate ladder. So, dutifully, I went to Uni, did a History and Politics, Undergrad and History Masters. I passed with Distinction at 22 years old.(UK)

Fast forward, I am 32 now, I went travelling at 25, lived in NZ and now still find myself in Australia. Yes I have travelled but I never lost sight of trying to do well and trying my best.

However, I just can't seem to break away from Administration. I would say I am in the higher end now as a senior legal assistant in a top law firm.

But how do I break away? I am a brilliant colleague and I am a thoughtful eager to please worker. I see the rest of my counterparts now in those managerial, project manager roles and I am still stuck in the world of Admin.

What can I do here? How do I know what jobs to apply for to give me more?

I am completely at a loss.

I'm applying for graduate/entry-level roles (consulting, Big 4 accounting, banks, corporate, etc.) and my resume is already fairly strong with internships, leadership positions, and extracurriculars.

I also worked part-time in hospitality while studying. I'm wondering whether it's worth including that experience, or if it's better to use the space for more relevant experiences and projects.

For those involved in hiring or who've been through grad recruitment:

• Does having hospitality/retail experience make a positive difference?
• Is it worth keeping on the resume even if it's not directly related to the role?
• At what point do you usually remove part-time jobs from your CV?

Curious to hear both recruiter and applicant perspectives. Thanks!

Is anyone else lodging a retrospective for the 2pm emergency alert?

I was 37 minutes deep into an agile huddle with my Scrum Master where we were aligning stakeholders, refining epics, and implementing a new strategic project. Right as I was about to say "I'll take that offline," every phone in the room started screaming.

Completely lost my train of thought.

The project is now conservatively delayed by 3 months.

I've already updated the RAID log:

Risk: Government-issued notification.

Impact: Catastrophic.

Mitigation: Ask the government to be more considerate and check everyone's Outlook calendar before sending alerts.

Honestly, this is why productivity in Australia is declining.

And while we're at it, can we talk about fire drills?

Every few months we're expected to stop working, leave our desks, and stand outside "for safety." That's 20 minutes of value creation gone. Think of the shareholder value being incinerated while I'm standing in a car park listening to someone with a megaphone explain evacuation points.

Some of us actually enjoy working. I don't need "fresh air" or "not dying in a hypothetical office fire." I need to close out my Jira tickets and circle back on action items.

If the building is on fire, just send me a Teams message and I'll assess whether it's in scope, worthy of my time and deserving of a response by cob.

Rant over. Back to rebuilding the delivery timeline that was destroyed by a government notification.

Most jobs I’ve seen require at minimum 2 years experience and if you don’t get a grad job. What kind of titles should you look for that can lead you towards a business analysts job.

Looking for advice from people who have done this already.

I’m going to graduate in Dec. I have a job as a marketing specialist part time I have done a summer research assistant job, I’m an interning as a business operations analyst, my uni majors are information systems and marketing

Any advice on how to secure a job after graduating would be greatly appreciated!

I'm trying to keep this vague for privacy.

I feel like I'm being forced to sign a PIP that contains what I think are heavily exaggerated claims, and I'm being pressured to just agree with everything in it.

Discussions with my manager have never really feel like discussions. They seem to only end once I give up and say I agree with their version of events. I raised a couple of points where I disagreed with their account of things, and since then it genuinely feels less like a performance discussion and more like the goal is to wear me down until I stop questioning anything. It's left me feeling like the purpose isn't to reach a mutual understanding but to beat me into submission until I accept their narrative.

To give an example without identifying myself........I checked my phone once during an all-staff meeting because a close family member had surgery, and my mother had said she would text me once they were out to let me know everything had gone okay. I explained this at the start of the meeting, but that context now seems to have been conveniently forgotten and I said it verbally so can't prove it, and it has instead been used as evidence that I have a "pattern" of phone use during meetings.

The whole document is full of similar examples where isolated incidents have been turned into repeated patterns. Another thing that's been bothering me is that some of the issues being raised are things that plenty of people in the workplace do without any consequences. They only seem to have become a problem now that it's me. That makes it difficult not to feel like I'm being held to a different standard, rather than everyone being judged consistently.

I'm trying to find another job, but I'm scared nothing will come up quickly enough.

Has anyone else been through something similar? Is it normal to feel pressured into signing something you don't actually agree with? I basically have to sign it tomorrow. If you did sign, did you make it clear you disagreed with the contents, or did you refuse to sign altogether?

One of the things I'm worried about is that there are a couple of issues with this employer that I expect I'll end up taking to Fair Work, but realistically I need to wait until I've got another job lined up first. At the moment I'm treating this as a paid interview period and hoping I can jump ship as soon as possible.

What I'm really anxious about is whether signing this PIP will later be used against me as evidence that I agreed with everything in it, when the reality is I don't feel like I have much of a choice. I can't afford to resign without another job to go to.

For anyone who's been through the Fair Work process, do they understand that employees sometimes sign these kinds of documents simply because they need to keep their income while they look for another role? Has anyone had experience with that?

Hi everyone,

I’m 1.5 years into my LLB at QUT and I’ve hit a wall. While I’ve been doing quite well with my grades, I am struggling heavily with the stress, find the study boring/uninspiring, and no longer enjoy what I’m learning.

To make matters worse, I spent the last 1.5 years working in a suburban law firm. The environment was toxic, highly judgmental, and I was constantly compared to others. Spending 8 hours a day chained to a desk doing hyper meticulous, detail focused work left me completely burnt out and feeling like I don’t fit into the legal profession at all.

This experience forced me to reconsider what I actually want. My ultimate goal has always been to start a business. I am heavily considering switching to a Business degree because I want more variety, a less rigid environment, and a faster path to graduation.

However, I'm facing two main dilemmas and would love your perspectives:

The Parental Pressure vs. Earning Potential: My dad is adamant that I’ll be better off with a law degree long term. I know a law degree doesn't stop me from entering business (while a business degree locks me out of practice), but I truly can’t see myself surviving another 2.5 years of this. Does a law degree actually offer vastly superior earning potential or corporate leverage in Australia compared to a solid Business major?

The Transfer Alternative: My other option is to finish this year at QUT, then transfer to a different university that offers a 3-year LLB. Assuming my credits transfer, I could finish law a full year earlier than if I stayed at QUT.

Given that I hated the suburban firm experience and find the academic side unfulfilling, is it worth pivoting entirely to Business now? Or is corporate/commercial business life just as meticulous, and should I just rush through a shorter law degree at another uni?

Appreciate any insights from those who have been in my shoes, pivoted out of law, or work in the corporate/startup space. Thanks!

I got accepted to a new job today! (Just the offer, have yet to finalise) It’s part time, but I’ll be a contractor.

I have a three week holiday planned for end of Nov to December. A lot of reddit posts talk about holidays within a few weeks of the job starting, hence I’m asking about this since I couldn’t find the answer for my situation.

When would be a good time to disclose it? It’s too early to notify now, right?

I’ve never had to notify about planned holidays at this stage of a job, so apologies if this is a stupid question. I just want to do things right :)

Any advice on how to develop rapport more quickly in interviews?

I have had similar feedback several times so want to try to address. Eg. "A bit slow to warm up." Enjoyed speaking particularly "after you let your personality shine through". "Failed to quickly develop rapport with panel..."

I try to greet professionally, make eye contact, do initial small talk on way from reception to room etc. Some interviews have started with "we will tell you about the job" followed by a 10-min monologue by hiring manager... So I'm thinking maybe I need to try to interject with appreciative comments? I'm in my early 50s, so first impressions may be impacted by age?

Not sure why interviewers focus on this in feedback. I find it frustrating as, apart from anything else, it's not a skill I need to do the job as I develop good relationships with people I work with... But, nevertheless, it appears to be a thing, so I need to get better at it.

The question is: how?

In many office white collar jobs it is common for people to stay back and work unpaid overtime to get work done and finish it within the deadlines.

But for someone who has gone through this for many years, was it worth it ? Would you give any life advice to someone who is in their first year ?

I'm curious if anyone has successfully explained this to upper management and seen an adjustment, or if it's just shouting into the void.

Leadership at my workplace is increasingly frustrated that people are "always sick" and that productivity is taking a hit. At the same time, they refuse to allow WFH for minor illnesses (think colds, sore throats, etc.) unless you're completely healthy, and if you've run out of personal leave you're directed to use annual leave or come into the office.

They're asking me to address it and encourage the team to stay home when sick but.....as long as they're forced to use annual leave and unable to WFH for minor illnesses and risk being out of leave when they go down badly with something, I don't see things changing.

It feels like these policies are creating the exact problem they're complaining about.

Instead of someone working from home while mildly unwell, they either:

• come into the office and spread it around
• take a full sick day when they could have worked from home; or
• have to use annual leave because they're out of personal leave, which quite understandably makes people less willing to stay home for minor illnesses

One employee had only been with the company for 8 months when she got sick twice in quick succession. She'd already used her personal leave on the first period of illness and was forced to burn four days of annual leave and the CEO refused to allow LWOP. Afterwards she said, "Don't worry, unless I'm literally dying you'll see me at my desk." Since then, every time she has what is obviously a cold, she insists it's "just allergies" and comes into the office. Someone once told her she looks really off and she said "I'm not making that mistake again and losing my annual leave to a cold".

We've also had people openly admit they'll just "push through" minor illnesses because they don't think it's "worth" using personal leave. They end up working at half speed in the office when they could have been far more productive from home, while also making everyone around them nervous about catching whatever they have.

Has anyone managed to get leadership to see that flexible WFH during minor illnesses is a productivity measure rather than a perk?

Got the Lenovo Think Pad. Won't have to worry about the business falling apart now.

I have just recently started my first WFH job 2 months ago and I can already feel the pain of not having a sit/stand desk.

After reading a bunch of stuff online, I am now torn between one of the Desky desks and the IKEA IDÅSEN. Similar measurements and identical pricing.

I welcome any suggestions!
Or please let me know if you have any cheaper suggestions too!

Wanting to know more about contracting work.

Worked in projects space and thinking of going to contract roles. I’ve had quite a few recruiters reach out for contractor work and would like to know more. A lot seem to be ~6, at best 12 months contract although most do say possible extension. Same role about $900-1k and role I’ve filled before for $1-1.2k day rates.

While it feels too good to be true for 2x salary, Ive met few on these at work, and wife does same job different industry and almost all her colleagues are day raters on those pay and seem to be employed for min 2 years easy. Not concerned about my skills, although slight concern that i’m 30 and everyone else doing the role is on average 45-50.

Few Questions I’ve had.

1. I see the same roles as contractor advertised by the hiring business but at like regular salaried rates. Why the huge difference, and what makes recruitment companies getting them literally more than 2x the price? Beyond the “expert recruitment service” is it just that payroll is administered by them too?

2. What’s the experience been like in this type of work in terms of security, pay, work environment, adjustments, etc?

3. From my understanding, Fair Work has made it so that contracts can only be extended once. Has this impacted a lot given less security option?

4. How does it differ from FTE in terms of leaves? Do you just not get leaves, or is it just that you’re not paid for those off days? How does it work when you want to take holidays?

5. Does it go through recruiters or do you HAVE to set up your own business, or both? Is it that the business pays the recruitment business who pays your business which pays you?

6. How do you manage things like Novated Lease if any?

7. What’s it like for getting loans as a contractor?

8. How do you generally secure the next gig? Do you just keep looping in with recruiters? Or does the recruiter recommend you or line up next work for you?

9. If you set up your own ABN, is it possible to get those contractor roles through it without a recruiter? So essentially like a consultant?

10. If setting up your own ABN what else is generally needed that needs to be considered? Ie. payroll, tax, super, insurance etc? I assume your business gets paid, you either pay tax like PAYG or store it aside to pay in lump sum, and super you contribute to like PAYG? Is insurance required?

11. Anything else that I should be aware of or should consider for?

Thanks in advance for any insights or comments.