Dear Chat Daddy,
I’m a 27-year-old single mother with three small children, and I have very limited outside help with taking care of them. After I graduated from a business school, I was placed on my first professional job as an executive assistant for a law firm. I work in an area with three other assistants, all of a different race than myself. I recently had my annual review with my boss. I thought we were cool about my situation with my child care problems until he told me in my review that I was late too many times and that he finds me on the phone on personal calls all the time and the list went on and on. Even though he made those rude comments to me, he did go ahead with a very nice pay raise but warned me about my behavior. I feel as if he stepped out of his bounds with his comments about me because I’m Black. Because this is my first professional job, I’m not sure how I should handle him from this point on or should I just quit my job?
-Seems Like Unfair Treatment To Me
Dear Seems Like Unfair Treatment To Me,
Sister girl, don’t be silly. Why would you quit your job because your boss told you the truth? In this economy, you need to be grateful he didn’t lay you off. Congratulations on completing school, which is giving you the chance to provide for your family. It’s obvious that you must be doing the work, but you may need some improvement so that you are able to handle your particular job situation better. If you truly feel as if your boss stepped out of his bounds, then you may want to talk to your human resource department about your issues with him. Before you do that, let me offer you some pointers on how to better understand what most employers are looking for from an employee. To be perfectly honest with you, it’s really not your boss’s business that you are having personal issues and troubles in your life. When you are hired as a professional, in your skilled line of work, whether a minority or not, you hold the power to sabotage your career by doing small, immature things while at work like staying on the phone on personal calls, being late, leaving early and not being a team player. If you start being more focused on your work duties, this will keep you from being scrutinized so closely from the powers that be. From this point on, try keeping a close eye on your attitude. A lot of us tend to bring bad attitudes to work with us. Being more positive in your business interactions will make you more marketable to your employer and yourself. Here’s to you continuing to grow bigger and better things in everything you do in life. Be encouraged.
______
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to our digital or paper edition. For previous editions, contact us for details.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
