So, to be honest, I have been slacking off A LOT at work, and my boss took an opportunity to have a 3-month review with me yesterday. I thought it was a little strange since I wasn't due until 6. Anyhow, my coworker said it wasn't out of the ordinary.

The review wasn't really a review. It was him calling me out on my wasted time and missing milestones. I've been in the software industry only and I guess I got too used to moving deadlines. It probably would have been better to give him a heads up. So, in all fairness, me getting in trouble for missing my deadlines and wasting time on the Internet was valid.

However, I am once again working for another manager who doesn't think my work or my line of work is particularly important.

I was a little hesitant accepting this job offer to begin with for the following reasons:

-the vacation time sucks, and they wouldn't budge on negotiations
-the pay is less than what I asked for, and in fact, I took a paycut to work for this company
-it wasn't the company's idea to hire a tech writer; it was part of the deal with a partnership
-the HR woman was never specific about the "great" benefits (I've gone from 100% coverage for a lot of extended health benefits to now having to pay for some of them)
-the HR woman said with bonuses, I would be closer to my desired salary (after I looked at the HR Manual, I realised that I would technically be closer...but not really. THat's like saying "yeah, $1 would be closer to your desired salary")
-the company isn't large, and I was looking to go back to working for a large company

The job objective at the top of my resume always states that I want to work for a company that values documentation.

My boss clearly thinks software developers are the cream of the crop. He really is a typical developer who is now in a management position. He constantly checks on how his developers are doing, and he'll drop by their cubes and ask how things are going. He's never dropped by my cube and asked. In fact, he seems rather uncomfortable talking to me. Maybe it's because he's been mad about my performance.

I've regularly brought up my other skills acquired from my past experience, and I talk about what else the company could benefit from. "Well, right now, we have to finish the document set because that is part of our contract." I don't get why he wouldn't be open to discussion about what's going to happen after that last deadline. From what he's described, I am going to be maintaining that document set, but he mentioned, "nobody will be really reading it though. It's just there to fulfill the contract. I mean, everything changes so quickly around here."

The best part of the "review" was him telling me that i was being paid more than most people in the company. My first thought was that everyone must be underpaid. And because of what I was being paid, I should be showing a little more. Quite frankly, I've been bored with what I've been doing. And he told me the company chooses salaries based on making comparisions. That just told me that raises in my future were not going to happen or that they won't be very large.

When I had my interview with the COO, I told him the impression of my job description based on my interview with my manager. The COO said, "no...it's not really like that." Well, since I am working with my manager and not the COO, my impression of the job is reality. And my boss doesn't like job descriptions. "Everyone's jobs are so varied and change all the time, what's the point?" Well, the point is for salaries.

So...I am working for someone who thinks I'm overpaid and whose work is not important. This boss has me feeling extremely shitty and not valued at all. I am really tired of working for companies who do not value my work or my line of work. Why didn't I listen to my gut? Ugh. I don't know how many times my boss has stressed that my work is to fulfill a contract and that the developers are the most important. In fact, I hate that he singles me in out in our team meetings to say "oh, this doesn't really apply to you...only the developers."

As for the rest of the "review, " I had to ask him what he thought of my work. He simply said, "it's fine. I am fine with it. It is satisfying the contractual obligations." Also, I think their regular reviews actually has some sort of form to go with it. This 3-month "review" was just a bullshit way to point out my time wastage.

As for what I'll be doing...I'm going ot keep my head down and catch up on my overdue work. In due time, I'm going to reassess what I want to be doing or where I want to be doing it.