New Job... Can't Cut It

Hi everyone,

I hate to be the newbie on the forum coming here with a problem that no one can fix. I'm hoping to vent because it's really bothering me. But I'm also hoping that maybe some other Prepress managers, Printshop Owners, etc might be able to help steer me right.

I've been working in Prepress for 13 years now. I've considered myself one of the best. I've actually had printshops outbid each other to see who gets to have me in Prepress because I became widely known for my Prepress skills in the area I was living in. Last summer, I moved my family a few hours away and looked for a new job.

I was ecstatic when I found a company that really seems like it takes care of its employees instead of being a slave driver (like a lot of my previous jobs). I really like this company, I really like my co-workers, I'm *SO* happy there.

The only downside is that it's worlds different from what I'm used to. I've always worked in offset printing; a lot of gangruns, but mostly specialty stuff (a lot of packaging; foil stamping, embossing, diecutting, etc). When I took this job, I thought it wouldn't be very different from what I was already doing.

I don't know if it's because I took 3 years off to try my luck at running my own design business, because this company strives for the highest quality, or because Flexographic Web presses are that different. But this is the first time in my life that I feel stupid. I feel like I'm not getting it. I feel like my boss hates me.

Usually, I only need a couple days of training at a new job, then I'm fine on my own. I've been at this place for 2 months and I still have so many questions to make sure I'm not going to mess anything up. I'm worried because my "trial/training period" is going to be up in 1 month and I'm afraid they won't let me stay.

I've made some mistakes here and there, and I know that's going to happen at a new job. But this place in specific has an internal tracking app they use that is so complex it took me 2-3 weeks JUST to learn the basics of it (forget learning the intricacies!). Plus, the quality they strive for mandates a checklist of over 100 things when preflighting, proofing, and setting up the files for press. I'm not even joking... every time I go through the processes they require for just 1 job makes my brain feel like it's going to explode!

Some of my co-workers have told me that I'm catching on very quickly. Some of the sales people have thanked me profusely for catching mistakes before things went to press. But my one and only issue is my manager. I don't know what's up with him, but when I do make a mistake, he treats me very cold. The other day, after I got back from lunch, my co-worker asked me about a job that I had done for some labels that are peel away (with deadener and release). This is something I've never done until I started this job. And the particular job he was talking about was the very first one I'd ever setup. I originally asked another co-worker for help setting it up since it was my first time and he explained to me that the inside panel, and the deadener & release plates have to be mirrored. So I mirrored them, it went out to proof, and 3 weeks later it was approved to go to plate. The only thing is that the deadener and release do NOT get mirrored (only the inside panel)... and I learned this weeks ago when setting up my second job like this, and I learned from that experience. Since this first job, I've actually sent out about 4 similar projects with deadener and release (the correct way) since I setup the original one that was wrong (like I was TAUGHT).

Anyway, I explained this to my co-worker and he understood. A few minutes later, my manager come up to me. He looks angry, but he doesn't sound angry, and his eyes were piercing right through me as if he would punch me if he was able to. He looked fed up with me and basically said 'this is wrong, I didn't know what time you were coming back from lunch so I went ahead and fixed it and sent it out to plate. So you don't have to worry about it'... then he got up and left without even giving me a chance to explain.

So, I'm basically worried they are not going to keep me after my trial period because I keep getting told 4 different ways of doing things there and everyone's way seems to be wrong, and they're blaming me for getting it wrong even though that's the way I'm being told to do it. I don't know what to do.

I'm not good at talking with people when I'm nervous. So having a conversation with my boss is pretty much not going to happen. Is there any way I can gauge if they are pleased with my performance or not? I'm literally so stressed about this right now that I've broken down crying at work 3 times in the past 2 weeks (I'm a girl, not a pansy btw!). This is the first time in my career that I feel worthless, stupid, and a waste of time. And it's mostly because of how my boss treats me, but it's also because they made me learn like 50,000 new things and expected me to be on my own at day 2. I just don't want to lose this job, and I'd appreciate any help I can get as far as maybe something I can do or say to impress them... or at least figure out how they feel about me. Something... ANYTHING to relieve this stress of not knowing what the hell is going on.

Thanks for reading, sorry it's so long. I really needed to vent, and most people don't understand what I'm talking about. So I thought a printing forum might help a bit. Thank in advance for any advice you might be able to give.

 

Hi.
I've just joined and posted something similar. It's a horrible situation to be in.
I think you've just got to keep trying your best and know that things will get better. I think there are managers at my place of work that think I'm crap at my job. You've got to prove them wrong.
I feel your pain and hope you can turn things around.