[lilian85]

I graduated this year with a master's degree in economics. I got an OK average, but not top grades. I graduated from a good university and also had one year of industrial psychology, so all in all I have 6 years of higher education. Since it is a German compnay, it was a plus that I speak german fluently, english and another language. I got a job working with kind of simple treasury at the finance team of a corporation. I was supposed to work there for one year while the one having the position would take a degree. She has a bachelor's. They only wanted to sign the contract for 9 months, because they rather wanted to be safe than sorry, it seemed. But they tell me it is for one year, all the time. It scared me, but I needed the experience and the money.

Ok. It was a lot to learn!! So many things to get into, but knowing I have landed a master's in economics has made me confident that I will learn all of it, as well the fact that the woman having the position has a bachelor's.

Then after 2 weeks, I get to hear from manpower that the company had a complain. They thought I knew too little about book keeping/ accounting. So, they sent me to take classes for a week in the evenings, unpaid. I had to agree, if not they would fire me. I did my best, and it helped a bit. I got the basics, enough for the job. As well, we have plenty of accountants, who actually tell us what accounts to use, so I thought I was more than ready after the week.

I continue learing, and every day I learn new things, and it's still a huge load of tasks I need to handle. Then my boss calls me to her office again, and she wants me to take more classes ( because they are not the one paying my classes, but the company recruiting me, MP)

So again I need to go to take these courses at night. I don't earn as much as I should, I speak 3 languages, I have a master's and been an intern for a big corporation before, and I have psychology) I don't feel like an expert, but I start to feel it a bit humiliating and frustrating.

Why are they doing this? They are never satisfied, never. And I try to help them the best I can, and after that they will throw me out like a bag of trash. I make a big effort, and I need the experience, but I don't like the "culture". Maybe it was a bigt mistake to start there.

[joypulv]

I'm not sure why someone with your education went to Manpower. I think of them as a place to go when you can't hustle based on networking and a good resume.

The company probably paid a fee equal to HALF your employment term! Plus Manpower probably lied about your skills and experience.

You ask why they are doing this, and there is no way we can know, only guess. I sort of guessed above. They expected more, and you cost them a lot.

First jobs are almost always tough, and a master's is just not as big a deal as you might hope, in the real world. Economics isn't accounting! Plus, temp jobs are the worst. You aren't welcomed as much as a permanent employee, many times.

If economics is your real passion and not just a field you drifted into, then I would take all those pesky accounting courses. THEN your resume starts to look solid. And they are free!
I think of economics as a field that doesn't really open doors to you unless you have a PhD. A masters and a year in industrial psych just don't strike me as translating into any job I know of.
With a PhD, and 3 languages, you can run the Federal Reserve someday, or do what most do with a PhD, teach at the college level.
What kinds of jobs were you hoping to get? What was your thesis topic?

[ScottGem]

First, where are you located? In the US it would be illegal for them to require you to take courses without paying. Second, a Master's in Economics is not the same as being an accountant. They are actually different.

Third, I don't know what the description of the job is or what duties you were expected to perform or what skills you portrayed during the interview process. All of these things could bear on what is going on here.

But the bottom line here is they seem to need a certain skill set and you are not exhibiting those skills to their satisfaction. But since this is a temporary position they don't want to fire you until the other person returns.

[lilian85]

Please don't make me feel worse by using manp. I did after looking for jobs for 6 months. Without top grades and lack of experience, I only got 2 serious interviews in all that time, and when I got the interviews I had already accepted thr manpow. Job. Anyway, O did to build a CV, and I have heard the stories where they hire you after a while. I had to give it a try. Of course I dislike that it will be for such a short time on my CV, but in the end I thought it was the smartest to do, besides I got to use german at work. Since the company is big, I hope it opens doors. I am not too passionate about economics, but I took the master because my interest for culture and language was nothing to make living of, but my bachelor's has subjects in history, politics and language. I work to pay my bills and to learn, and always move the right direction, upwards/ develop. They said they messed up a bit when hiring me, but I hope it is not going to be too much of a step in the wrong direction to me. I don't get to use much math, draw graphs etc. only a little. I do hope that I could work in an international organization
One day. That's still a dream. I also wish my grades were better. I hope it will be easier to get a job when this year is over. I will ask for a letter stating that I learned some accounting, even though it's going to say manpower all over it. If you have any advice, please tell me! :) kind of lost the track a bit.

[J_9]

There is nothing wrong with using MP. I used a similar company quite a few years ago and that job turned from temp to permanent and lasted 5+ years. It also gave me a good foundation in my area of employment at the time. I was in the legal field.

I think what the others are saying is that you are getting a job in accounting with a Masters in Economics. Accounting and economics aren't the same thing. That's like me, a Registered Nurse, trying to get a job as a Respiratory Therapist.

Your grades have nothing to do with your employment. They don't care what grade you got on a test, they only care that you have the diploma, or you passed your boards (if you have to take boards in your area of expertise).

[1bluesky]

When things come to that stage, consider 2 things seriously:

1. Do what they ask... because you build your experience and Resume. So, by taking those crap courses you invest in your future.

2. Start looking for another job. Start it NOW. Because if they were anything seriously counted on you, they would talked to you and explained and helped you already. Since this is not the case, the message is clear: "Hey, we do not count on you. Leave"

I do not think that talking to your supervisor would help. On contrary, it might even make it worse, as they would take that against you pronouncing you being cocky, arguing, etc.

If the employer doesn't like you - for whatever reason - they try to apply all sort of pressure on you to make your life unbearable and hell at work.

[lilian85]

Thank you for the advice! Since I am new on the labour market, I can do mistakes:) Hopefully this helps me to avoid them. I will look for jobs very soon. I think that they are stuck with me since the one going away is about to leave, and it is too hard for a new person to learn it all. I was so happy to get the job, but really, it crushed my confidence with the feed back so negative. It said on the contract that it could become something longer lasting, but I guess they all write it to give incentives to work hard. Anyway, Iwill continue the classes with a positive attitude. She is coming back in August 2015, so if I leave them in a few months, they will get extremely disappointed. A good time to apply for new jobs in March. Gives me 5 months before I have to leave. But of course, they did not want to commit for more than 9 months, so I could always use it as an excuse. Really tricky when they talk behind my back. The one teaching, who is leaving is friendly andnice, she is clear about coming back, she and another colleague evaluate me with the boss behind closed door, then ManP. Tells me later. That's hard, because I do not know what's happening. Now the other colleague is leaving too, so they will be very vulnerable. I feel a responsibility, but I hope they can show me good feed back in the end, for my resume and self esteem.

Thank you for the advice! Since I am new on the labour market, I can do mistakes:) Hopefully this helps me to avoid them. I will look for jobs very soon. I think that they are stuck with me since the one going away is about to leave, and it is too hard for a new person to learn it all. I was so happy to get the job, but really, it crushed my confidence with the feed back so negative. It said on the contract that it could become something longer lasting, but I guess they all write it to give incentives to work hard. Anyway, Iwill continue the classes with a positive attitude. She is coming back in August 2015, so if I leave them in a few months, they will get extremely disappointed. A good time to apply for new jobs in March. Gives me 5 months before I have to leave. But of course, they did not want to commit for more than 9 months, so I could always use it as an excuse. Really tricky when they talk behind my back. The one teaching, who is leaving is friendly andnice, she is clear about coming back, she and another colleague evaluate me with the boss behind closed door, then ManP. Tells me later. That's hard, because I do not know what's happening. Now the other colleague is leaving too, so they will be very vulnerable. I feel a responsibility, but I hope they can show me good feed back in the end, for my resume and self esteem.

[Fr_Chuck]

First, universities do not hardly ever teach you to do a job. You learn information.

And speaking 3 languages is great, if it is needed on the job, so is it ?

And there are people with Master degree, flipping hamburgers, because jobs are hard to find. You have seen that.

You never said, you had any accounting course work in college, book keeping and accounting is hard, if you never took classes on it,

They could have just fired you, but did not, so it shows they want to keep you

But it shows you need to learn the skills they require