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The situation:

I am a newbie to my new job (IT) in a as it seems, quite decent company in Stuttgart(Germany) where I live.The problem is that at the moment I don't have experience in the job and I don't speak very good German, because of this I have some issues at work.

  1. My supervisor is a good person (and job-skilled), but as it seems doesn't want to spend much time with me or it seems like he is ignoring me, (maybe) because of my low level of experience and my difficulty with the language.
  2. I had some tasks that I completed, but he doesn't give me a new one or "orders" me to do something or give me a new guideline.

So the questions are...

1.How do you translate his stance?

2.And how can I acquire more experience if I don't have something to do?

3.Is there something that I can do to change the situation?

Kilisi
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LePanz
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    Possible duplicate of Dealing with lack of work in new job efficiently and professionally – gnat Sep 03 '18 at 13:10
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    What skill level are we talking about? Are you a trainee, or an experienced person working in a different field? Is the supervisor the same person that hired you, or were you hired by someone else who you now not interact with? – simbabque Sep 03 '18 at 15:03
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    @simbabque I can say that i have a low level experience but i'm not hired as a trainee... Yes, he is the same person who hired me. And of course i don't wait from him to assign me something huge ... (based on my experience talking) – LePanz Sep 04 '18 at 05:59
  • Is it a German language working environment? Most MNCs are all English. In any case, sign up at the Volkshichschule for language lessons. After a certain level of proficiency, I learned by going down the pub & chatting :-) – Mawg says reinstate Monica Sep 04 '18 at 08:05
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    @Mawg 98% of the time they talk in German. Of course i can talk to them in English... but the meetings and everything are in German .. Leider! :P ... I think that i should use your advice too :) thnx! – LePanz Sep 04 '18 at 09:18
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    Hopefully,t he documents are in English. If you are the only non-German speaker, it can be tough. But, you will need German more outside of work than at work, for shopping, cinema, TV, landlords, etc, etc, so I guess you just have to sign up for the language course. Ask your company if they provide any help or funding or even time off to attend the course. Things like Goethe Institute are better for learning, but much more expensive than VHS – Mawg says reinstate Monica Sep 04 '18 at 09:21

2 Answers2

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Doesnt want to spend much time with me

It is not the managers job to "spend time" with you. They are there to distribute jobs to staff and to make sure all legal aspects are covered in their team/company.

but he doesn't give me new tasks or orders me to do something

Have you asked for them?

If not do so, do what he "orders" you to do. Do as the manager says, avoid trouble, get paid.

You will slowly learn the language and develop experience/skills in the field. That will come naturally by following what your manager says. If you have a direct issue with anything said then you can try have a simple conversation with the manager and ask for more tasks and say that you are slowly learning the language so give you time to progress (they will understand that the language is not easy to learn)

Twyxz
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If you think communication is a major point of concern, then work on getting yourself into language lessons, much better if you can talk to your supervisor about it to see if the company can provide assistance for it. A little self-studying on the side wouldn't hurt, either.

As for getting new tasks, begin with approaching your supervisor about it. Ask if there are some other tasks you can help with. If you find yourself with a lot of idle time, then try self-learning to improve your technical skills, or your language skills.

Having a lot of down time at work doesn't make you less valuable as an asset, but not being able to perform effectively when you do get work to do does, especially for someone with little experience. If you have down time and they have no tasks to give you, focus on working on the things that you have difficulty with.

Noir Antares
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  • thanks a lot for your reply!!! i'll try to make it work!!! – LePanz Sep 05 '18 at 08:09
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    If anything, I was in the exact same position as you. I started work in Japan with barely any skill in Japanese and virtually no one spoke English. You really just have to grind it out when you're starting out, you'll eventually fit in the role as you get used to the work and the language. – Noir Antares Sep 05 '18 at 08:12