Your job: What it's supposed to be vs what it really is

[Antisocial_Worker]

One of my three jobs involves working with developmentally-disabled teenagers.

What I'm supposed to do:

Teach life skills in the home and social interaction in the community so as to prepare these young people for independent futures and employment.

What I really do:

Tell the kid, "Stop that! What did I tell you about being weird?" when he takes his shoe off in a coffee shop and decides to give it a lick. We are in the coffee shop, incidentally, because his mom specifically forbids us from actually teaching any life skills in the home. The farther away the kid and his mom are from each other, and the longer they're apart, the happier she is. And so my job is really to pick this kid up and babysit him for a shift so the two of them don't end up killing each other.

And you?

[KuariKaydrith]

The best way to describe what my job is supposed to be is that I am head of security for two sites - I am supposed to deal with scheduling, submitting everybody's hours, and other security stuff such as patrols and manning the cameras. As well as making sure everybody is up to date in their training.

What I actually do? All the above (as it doesn't take much time really), but mainly I act more as front desk reception and mail room person. I don't really mind too much other than the fact that it's been very much a learn as I go situation. Pretty much since I switched to day shifts the expectation has been that I know how to do this stuff from the get go, even though technically I'm 'only' security. Oh well, such is life. At least the employees at this site treat me well for the most part!

[April]

My job is case manager in community corrections. I'm supposed to assist in finding jobs, transitioning into the community, behavioral modifications, elicit change and better choices, etc etc.

I spend a lot of time saying "How did that help you?" and baby sitting adults

[Becks]

Day job--
What I'm supposed to do on any given day depends on how many people have been scheduled.

What I actually do is my job and parts of at least 2 other peoples' jobs.

[Sunshine]

What I'm supposed to do: ring up purchases, drop money, maintain store cleanliness.
What I actually do: ask for charitable donations (this month) and babysit grown folks

[Crai]

My Job is Network Administration, Shop Management, Writing Evals, Attending Network expansion planning meetings, Coordination of contractor access, Special projects, Answer tech questions, ect ect

What I actual spend my days doing / saying "Did you turn it off and back on?" "No that will not work they have not built transporters or subspace relays this is not Star Trek" "I don't care if you saw them do it on NCIS that is not possible!" "Why would you think cutting the cord off of a mouse would make it wireless?" "Yes I know your mom said you were special... but she meant ED!"

[RealUnimportant]

What I should be doing: helping people from varied walks of life plan and execute journeys across the country.

What I really do: wonder how the frack half these people even managed to navigate their way out of their bedrooms.

[Dreamstalker]

What I should be doing: Overseeing 4 registers (SCO) and helping with problems that cause it to actually lock up. I'm not supposed to leave the SCO-specific area of the front.

What I actually do: Remedial math/reading comprehension tutor (they get $40+/hour in this town, I need a raise!), babysitting adults, anything that another department should be doing because I'm "standing around", cashiering (no-no according to policy--the attendant should never be on a register if they're supposed to be at SCO)

What they say I should be doing but I refuse to: Loss Prevention. I'll head off scams if I see them in progress, but I'm not legally allowed to check receipts (nobody is) or stop or go after people (only a manager can do that)

[DGoddessChardonnay]

What I'm supposed to do: Take care of the check in of the back door deliveries (DSD)/cleaning and rotational calendar weekly/scan out reclaim daily/stock and order front end register candy and cigarettes

What I'm actually doing: Cleaning up the DSD receiving area every damn morning after the night crew has left everything everywhere EXCEPT where it should be/haul returns up front and leave them for the front end folks to handle/listen to store manager whine about back room conditions and people taking too many breaks at our weekly meeting PLUS what I'm supposed to be doing.

And get all this done in no more than 40 hours/week (even though I'm scheduled for 35 1/2.)

[Food Lady]

What I'm supposed to do: bend over backward being overly nice in order to net credit apps (really, that's the entire core of my job now). What I actually do: give away money all day, steer conversations away from anything that will tick off me or my customers, and clean up after lazy people (customers and coworkers).

[Teefies2]

What I'm supposed to do: take care of stockroom inventory, keep our on-hand inventory up to date, do the resets of departments, supervise cashiers (make sure they get their breaks, have the right tools for their job, teach them how to improve their performance), deal with angry/frustrated customers (fortunately not too many), answer calls for help from the pharmacy - where you know, people can die if they don't get their medication, count the registers down at the end of the night, prepare the cash deposits, make sure everything balances at the end of the night, lock up the store when we close.

What I actually do: cram as much inventory management, resets, and locking up procedures into as little time as possible .. because I am:

dealing with personality conflicts between teenage girl cashiers and/or making sure they are not standing around "chatting" instead of working, chasing down cashiers who "forgot" that breaks are only 30 minutes, approving each and every alcohol sale (since all of my cashiers are under 21), telling the same homeless woman that she cannot bring her shopping cart full of empty bags into the store night after night - no I'm not being mean because you're homeless, you can't bring empty shopping bags into a store (to fill them up and leave without paying) it's the same as taking your own food into a restaurant, and ....

teaching K ONCE AGAIN EVERY NIGHT how to empty the vacuum and YES you have to straighten up the same aisle you straightened up last night!!!!!!!!!!!! SMH

[BrenDAnn]

What I'm supposed to do: Help run the C-Store in an orderly fashion as assistant manager

What I really do: Work every shift under the sun, most of which are shifts no one else wants to work, because, hey, I have no life, right? I also do some adult babysitting, unplanned mediating between coworkers, and wake up before the sun a few times a week, because deity forbid I go a week without doing books or making food. I might forget how.

[Terza]

What I'm supposed to do as Night Shift:

Stock shop, clean shop, check dates/temps, serve customers, bundle old newspapers/stock new papers

What I actually do:
Assistant Manager duties - count/record yesterday's takings, record invoices, stocktake, send orders, check deliveries.
I do serve customers, check dates/temps, clean coffee machine,do papers, stock urgent items - milk etc.

To be fair, this has been arranged like this since I am now assistant manager and we hired someone to stock during Sat/Sun daytime to allow such because nobody else wants to work weekend night shift.
I get more management done overnight due to lower number of customers and less stress due to being on my own and not having to help/rescue coworkers! And I'm the manager on duty over the weekend, I'm just generally only available by phone in emergencies due to sleeping.

[Kanalah]

What I am supposed to do at the school: Open packages, dispense condiments, remind children to eat appropriately.

What I actually do: Open packages, dispense condiments, remind children to eat appropriately, explain why they should eat their sandwich before their candy. Break up fights. Get extra drinks, forks, spoons, knives and napkins. Explain why there are certain topics we don't discuss during lunch. Put lunch trays away. Take out the trash, sweep and vacuum the floor. Remind the kids to be quiet in line. Serve extra side dishes. Clean and wipe down the tables. Wash out the vacuum. Tie shoes. Nutrition counselor. Life couch. Motivational speaker. Nurse. Therapist. Back-up mommy.

[Racket_Man]

Pizza delivery driver

What people think I do --- Casually riding around all night just drivin my car, blasting the radio, delivering pizzas (please note the sarcasm in the next statement), inhaling and blowing out wacky tabbakky smoke, being a loser, stoner, HS dropout and all the other BAD and untrue stereotypes you see in the Digiorno frozen pizza commercials.

What I actually do --- Dodging idiots on the road who somehow got driver licenses from the back of cereal box, dodging the chemically impaired who got replacement drivers licenses from the back of cereal box, dealing with people who are living over 20 years in the past and still believe a pizza should be "30 MINUTES or free", customer standard time, getting bitched at for stuff that is NOT my fault (nor the stores at times), dealing with mountains of dishes, pans, lids, glasses, silverware, and other pizza implements of destruction, mounds of trash, (especially during the winter or rainy season) filthy floors, mounds of cardboard boxes, lots of food and dough prep, and getting NO help from 80% of the rest of the employees who just make a big mess in the dish area and just walk away (as in "OH that IS THE DRIVERS JOB NOT MINE).