-8

I had been jobless during a pandemic and now that I got a job I have learned I have slowed 60%. Although the job was based on a tech test which I passed and then Behaviour Question etc. I have seen some (non-tech) seniors (who allocate me work) getting agitated with "getting work in a timely manner to high quality".

I think they know I was out of work but still I want to get the support before they decide to cancel me because of the time I am taking, I also have given back so they know I can work but how can let them know about me out of practice due to 2 years of no work, and mental stress?

Edit: I mention mental stress because, I had been recently been told I am pre diabetic, so I have a lot problem which include mental stress, extreme headache etc.

localhost
  • 405
  • 3
  • 14
  • From their perspective, they may expect a certain level of work output. If your skills were going to decline from lack of utilisation, you should have explored doing things to ensure you kept sharp. All you can do now is put your head down, and try to get up to speed. – Gregory Currie Mar 16 '22 at 10:56
  • You have previous questions on this site where you state you were employed during the pandemic. Could you clarify? – Philip Kendall Mar 16 '22 at 10:59
  • @PhilipKendall I was for very short period so I do not mention it my was CV. it was hardly for 1 month. – localhost Mar 16 '22 at 11:03
  • 1
    Sure, you might not mention it on your CV but you still were working. It's... not telling the whole truth to state "2 years of no work" as you did here - we're not going to be judging your CV, why not be honest? – Philip Kendall Mar 16 '22 at 13:08
  • @PhilipKendall that time I worked it there wasn't work as they couldn't setup my laptop plus with short span working on my CV, I get a lot of question "why u left x y and z"? "are you a job hopper?" so I leave them out. – localhost Mar 16 '22 at 13:37

1 Answers1

1

Are you absolutely sure that you have slowed down, and staying in that pace, just because you're out of touch for a while? You were able to clear the test(s), and you are also able to accomplish things, just not as per their expectations.

What I'd suggest is that, before second-guessing yourself (which will eventually take your morale further downwards), think what you can do to make things better. Every time you get any work, please don't jump-start, rather analyse the effort and time which you believe you'll need in order to complete the work. Plan it properly, so that execution phase takes less time by avoiding getting stuck / blocked. Check for any dependencies or blockers you may have and propose solutions (if you can) or ask for help.

  • In case you're given a timeline and your arrived timeline does not match, raise a flag immediately. Talk to your manager (or whoever is assigning you the work) so that they can also have their expectations aligned. The earlier you'll let them know about this in the process, the more are the chances that your proposed timeline is likely to be accepted (as long as you can justify your timeline if asked). If you stay silent and then do not deliver - it'll eventually create problems like you mentioned.

  • In case you're not given a timeline, or asked to come up with an estimate on your own, definitely let them know about your numbers and justify them.

Either way, you can arrive at a conclusion where you know how much to be done in what time and then you can start working.

Now, that being said, you definitely need to keep two things in mind:

  1. You are not going to grow by doing what you had been doing. In case your best effort falls short of expectation, you need to learn new things / ways to get the job done faster, better and more reliable ways. Ask for help - learn a new tool, technology, automation - anything and everything you'll need in order to improve yourself.

  2. Thinking about the problem and not doing anything about it is not going to make things better. Ideally, you should have been preparing yourself already for then job, even before you got one. The best time to start polishing up your skills was the time when you started applying, the next best time is NOW. Now you have the required resource and environment to get back in track and make it better, utilise it. Put extra efforts to cover up for the lags you think you are having and then push some more, be consistent and you'll be back.

Best of luck.

Sourav Ghosh
  • 72,905
  • 46
  • 246
  • 303
  • How do I tell them that I would need support in terms of relaxation e.g. as I edited my question to add that I m pre diabetic and going through changes sometimes my headache get so worse that I m very slow. There are aspect of this job which I never used and they use heavily but that senior lets say X isn't aware of it but tech lead is. I want to convience that senior X about my commitment – localhost Mar 16 '22 at 11:29
  • You don't need to, you calculate your velocity as per your requirements. In case your medical condition requires/forces you to take a break, you can consider that while preparing the estimate. – Sourav Ghosh Mar 16 '22 at 14:11