Beneath me as a person? No. If I'm the only one here and it needs doing, I'll do them.
But beneath the point where efficiency dictates I usually should not do them, and someone else should? Absolutely. That's the whole point of having a support staff. I delegate to assistants left right and center.
ETA: I did think of one task I've never done in my almost 9 years here, and that's cleaning out the fridge. But I have cleaned out the microwaves many times, so even?
There are some things I can't justify doing because of my billing rate. Like, a client doesn't want to pay my hourly rate for me to copy hundreds of documents when my secretary can do it with no hourly charge to them or a paralegal could do it at a much lower charge (and my firm doesn't want me to spend a lot of time doing things I can't charge a client for). But there is nothing I would refuse to do.
Beneath me as a person? No. If I'm the only one here and it needs doing, I'll do them.
But beneath the point where efficiency dictates I usually should not do them, and someone else should? Absolutely. That's the whole point of having a support staff. I delegate to assistants left right and center.
I am in this boat, but honestly, I don't think there is a single task in my office that I haven't done at some point in my tenure here. This includes all of the ridiculous menial crap I did as a summer associate all the way through to running and emptying the dishwasher as a partner yesterday.
No. I'm willing to do what needs done. Earlier this week I need to make a bunch of copies and I missed having an admin to do that stuff for me, then I remembered that the new job is paying me more, so who cares. Going forward I will ask our student assistant for help on those types of projects if they are available because it would be more efficient, but it's certainly not beneath me.
Susie more accurately stated the point I'm trying to make. Yes, if there are students scheduled, it's better to leave tasks for them. If there are no students scheduled, waiting 4 days for something to get done/processed is bullshit.
Ehh, kind of, but its more of you're only asking me because I'm a woman and not because I find the task beneath me sort of thing.
My firm hosts two conferences a year in Boston, and all the admins in the Boston office have to help with registration, set-up, etc (two full days out of the office). I'm always asked to do this too, even though I'm an analyst. First few times I did help, but then I realized that I was the ONLY analyst being asked time after time, and not so coincidentally (IMO), I'm the only female analyst in Boston. So I started saying no, I was too busy, maybe they could ask [insert several male analysts here]. Which of course, they didn't.
I realize this is slightly petty but its kind of my work hill to die on.
Yeah... this needs to be a hill! Don't question yourself on this. It's not petty. And hopefully once you said "no", they realized what they were doing.
No. There are things I'd rather not do, but nothing is beneath me.
The one thing I hate with the fire of a thousand suns is the expectation that teachers buy classroom supplies for their students out of their own paycheck. I refuse.
Ehh, kind of, but its more of you're only asking me because I'm a woman and not because I find the task beneath me sort of thing.
My firm hosts two conferences a year in Boston, and all the admins in the Boston office have to help with registration, set-up, etc (two full days out of the office). I'm always asked to do this too, even though I'm an analyst. First few times I did help, but then I realized that I was the ONLY analyst being asked time after time, and not so coincidentally (IMO), I'm the only female analyst in Boston. So I started saying no, I was too busy, maybe they could ask [insert several male analysts here]. Which of course, they didn't.
I realize this is slightly petty but its kind of my work hill to die on.
No, this is not petty. I would die a thousand times on this hill.
No. There are things I'd rather not do, but nothing is beneath me.
The one thing I hate with the fire of a thousand suns is the expectation that teachers buy classroom supplies for their students out of their own paycheck. I refuse.
I have nothing to do with schools but this infuriates me. Teachers should be given budgets for these things. I'm okay with my tax dollars going towards these budgets.
Unfortunately they haven't. I've now said no for 4 consecutive conferences, yet I'm still asked everytime. I've conferred with my male colleagues, they have never been asked.
Next time, I'd pointedly ask them "how come you only ask me and none of the other analysts?". Ask and just sit there and stare. If they come back with "well, because you've helped in the past". You say "uh huh, and I've said no the past 4 times. But you still need help and you never ask any of the other analysts. Why not?".
My joke of a job has evolved to the point where 99% of my job now is just to physically be present somewhere simply because my company needs someone to be there. Even though I don't actually do anything while I'm there. So yeah, I feel like doing nothing is a little beneath me.
I kind of hate the term "beneath you". No, I'm not too good to do anything. I'll clean up the garbage or file stuff or make appointments or whatever.
I do think there are cases where too much time is being devoted to stuff someone who is entry level, has less education, less experience, less pay, whatever could and IMO should do. It's just not the best use of resources. That happened a lot in my old job, it made no sense to pay someone what I was paid to do something you could pay half the hourly rate to do.
Right now my whole job is probably beneath my skill level, but it's what they hired me to do so... I'll spend my days setting appointments and filing.
Beneath me as a person? No. If I'm the only one here and it needs doing, I'll do them.
But beneath the point where efficiency dictates I usually should not do them, and someone else should? Absolutely. That's the whole point of having a support staff. I delegate to assistants left right and center.
ETA: I did think of one task I've never done in my almost 9 years here, and that's cleaning out the fridge. But I have cleaned out the microwaves many times, so even?
Ditto this, except we are so skeletal I have no support staff to delegate the suit to. This probably explains why my office looks like it's vomiting files.
I've never refused to do a job but I had several tasks given me I considered beneath me. Like at one firm I worked in has about 30 renderings hung on one wall in the conference room...they'd take them down (along with the pins that held them up) for some meetings/interviews. I got the task if rehanging them every fucking time. An intern or one of the other designers could also do this but nope, always me. I hung other art & often got stuck doing the graphic design...I'm not a graphic designer, I spent 10yrs of my life becoming an Architect...a lot of it was just sexism. My last job I spent months in public restrooms bending down with my head next to toilets very pregnant. I did feel that was below me too. Over the years in my male dominated field I felt treated unfairly because if my gender a lot. I'm in no huge hurry to get back in it honestly.
No--I don't think there is. Although I was in the break room one day and some guy (I didn't know him) came in and was complaining there was no coffee made. He asked if I was going to doing it. It was very much implied I should because I was a woman as I wasn't even near the coffee, and wasn't drinking any. I said no and walked out. I don't drink coffee at all-make it yourself.
Beneath me, no. There are things I will not do anymore like plan events because only women do them. I will not do secretarial stuff because then it becomes expected.
Post by lurknomore on Oct 31, 2014 10:51:57 GMT -5
There is one thing in my office that I will admit is beneath me. The ladies bathroom on my floor has a shitter. That is, someone who, on occasion, misses the toilet or gets it stuck to her and then it falls off, or something else drastically wrong. We know who (there is a lobby cam right outside the bathroom). We do not know why occasionally after she's in there there is shit on the floor or on a toilet seat. The receptionist usually ends up cleaning it up (b'c she doesn't want to call maintenance be be the law firm with a floor shitter...she has to see them often!) That, I will not do.
Not really beneath me. Like others said, there are things that are silly for me not to delegate. That said, sometimes it's good to show we're all a team, everyone helps out, etc. And if my higher ups want to pay me my hourly rate to count beans, then I'll count those beans.
I do agree that I've been annoyed when I'm the only asked to do something because I'm female. Like how one of my old bosses used to ask me or another woman to get lunch for him. He claimed it was "only because we normally go out" when someone called him on it.
Ehh, kind of, but its more of you're only asking me because I'm a woman and not because I find the task beneath me sort of thing.
My firm hosts two conferences a year in Boston, and all the admins in the Boston office have to help with registration, set-up, etc (two full days out of the office). I'm always asked to do this too, even though I'm an analyst. First few times I did help, but then I realized that I was the ONLY analyst being asked time after time, and not so coincidentally (IMO), I'm the only female analyst in Boston. So I started saying no, I was too busy, maybe they could ask [insert several male analysts here]. Which of course, they didn't.
I realize this is slightly petty but its kind of my work hill to die on.
Not petty. Good for you and a big WTF to them for asking. I'm glad you said no.
I frequently do stuff that is not worthy of what they pay me all the time. I generally don't mind but right now I'm entering manual data that's really the job of my entry level employees. However I'm also GBCNing and on a conference call at the same time.
I will clean up after myself but I will absolutely not clean up after others in the office. I feel that's putting me in the position of "woman's work" since I work with all men.
When I was the GM at a boutique hotel, I cleaned the shit off a hotel room wall that was occupied by assholes during a major ski weekend. I "stepped in" so the room attendant didn't have to do it. I would not ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do myself. So, no, I don't consider myself too good for anything. Then I proceeded to charged their credit card for damages $$$ and had it repainted.
Are there circumstances when certain employees time might be better spent on certain tasks due to skill level, urgency and opportunity cost than others? Probably.
I do think that whole, "you should work registration because your a chick" is an entire load of horseshit.
It depends on why I'm being asked. If it's obvious it is only because I am a woman or because the person asking feels like the task is beneath them so they want to pawn it off, then I will push back.
But, all things being equal there are no specific things that I feel are beneath me. If anything, I do more than I should because I hate asking people for help.
There is one thing in my office that I will admit is beneath me. The ladies bathroom on my floor has a shitter. That is, someone who, on occasion, misses the toilet or gets it stuck to her and then it falls off, or something else drastically wrong. We know who (there is a lobby cam right outside the bathroom). We do not know why occasionally after she's in there there is shit on the floor or on a toilet seat. The receptionist usually ends up cleaning it up (b'c she doesn't want to call maintenance be be the law firm with a floor shitter...she has to see them often!) That, I will not do.
OMG why doesn't somebody talk to her?! Or more importantly, how can anybody look her in the eye?
No, I have always been the type of person who will step in and do whatever is needed. However, my new company is all about billable hours, and I'm in a dual role with the billing rate of management, so it often makes more sense for me to assign tasks to an intern or someone else with a much lower billing rate.