During the interview, I was told all my job duties, etc, and accepted them. I was told my schedule and was eager to start.
On my first day, I showed up at my schedule time, which was first thing in the morning. The store was closed and the boss was no where to be found. (Just to let you know, the boss is also the owner of the building/store/company). I tried calling the boss and there was no answer. I left a message and waiting in the parking lot. He showed up 1.5 hours late and told me he "got behind." He then showed me around the office and told me he needed to run to the store to pick something up real quick. He was gone for almost 5 hours, and by the time he got back, there was little time left to train me.
My second day of work, he tells me that I need to learn a software program on the computer so I can file forms for certain customers. It is a new program that he is just starting to use, and he himself doesn't know much about it. Sure enough, he leaves the store again, for another few hours.
This goes on for about a week. The boss makes a point to disappear for hours at a time, and I have no way of getting a hold of him. I need help learning the software, but he doesn't know how to use it either. The customers always seem to show up when the boss is gone, and I don't know how to help them because of the software. I keep telling the boos I need help, or at least a manual for the software (which he doesn't have).
Tonight was horrible. I sat the boss down and told him that I can't get a hold of him when I need his help, that I need help learning the software, and that he STILL hasn't fully trained me. He leaves me alone for hours without even telling me, and customers have questions that I can't answer. He told me that I would "eventually figure it out." The thing is, I am not going to just wake up and figure it out – he needs to train me and guide me on what to do.
There are 4 other employees, and they all come to me when they have questions. I told them to ask the boss, but they told me that they TOO have not been fully trained. The boss doesn't seem to take his business seriously, and I feel like I cannot be productive and grow as an employee without his help.
What should I do? I have pointed out my concerns to the boss and he brushes them off. What should/can I do about him disappear during my shift, and me having no way of getting a hold of him? (I have his cellphone number, but he never answers it! I leave messages, and he doesn't return them.)
Hopefully you don't intend to make a career of this job. I see a few choices:
1) As long as the checks don't bounce and the job works with your school schedule, you can bring your level of "I don't give a damn" down to the level of your boss. I wouldn't use him as a future reference, but it is money. If nothing else, it is a paycheck.
2) You can start looking for another job that pays at least as well as this one and works with your school schedule. Once you pass 6 months, you may have to start listing them as work experience.
3) You can put in some extra, probably unpaid, time to learn the software when you're not scheduled to work. Go into each menu to see what it does, do a little internet research for books or online training, maybe some youtube videos. Become the expert then take your skills somewhere else.
