Ah, Maria. They want you to do the nearly impossible -- unless you start building a couple of cars a night, just for grins -- and then if you don't meet goal, it's YOUR fault. Even though you don't have control of the the whole process. @@ Passing the beck, and you ARE competent and good at what you set your mind to.

I don't blame the fetal-position urge.

I've been getting a steady stream of negative feedback on everything I've edited for the past 2 weeks, and I genuinely can't tell if I've suddenly lost the ability to edit or if my boss has suddenly gotten a lot pickier. I think it's probably both, because I definitely missed some things, but then she also keeps giving me feedback like "cut back on the jargon!" and as an example says I should have changed "times of testing" to "testing times."

And, I have to say, I am ALWAYS going to miss things like that, because they read as completely normal to me. I think of jargon as language like you hear in an episode of ER: "The patient required a blood draw for STAT labs." But, really, "times of testing" is jargon?

I know that my boss gets feedback from the managers above her, so if THEY have started getting pickier, it makes sense. But I still feel like this is something I'm going to fail at, because my brain doesn't parse these tiny distinctions very well.

I had been getting more or less consistently good feedback for a while now -- not on every article, but I'd say in the range of 65%-75% of the articles I edited. And I feel like all of a sudden I don't know how to do this any more, even though I *thought* I did.

I'm just really frustrated and disheartened.

"times of testing" is jargon

Sounds like she's using "jargon" to equal "passive voice" or something. Maybe someone read one of those style manuals that shrieks about simplicity, always simplicity.

That's kind of a normal thing to happen with a newish job, isn't it? Everything is hard because you don't know anything, and then you know what you're doing enough to feel competent, and then you get more responsibilities or higher standards (maybe even just ion your own head) and everything seems really hard again. That's a thing, isn't it? Probably has a jargony name.

Probably has a jargony name.

If it does, I can't use it! But I probably will anyway. Because I'm a rebel like that.

Timelies all!

I really should bring a sweater or jacket to work, since the a/c is set to "meat locker".

I really should bring a sweater or jacket to work, since the a/c is set to "meat locker".

Better than being set to "hurt locker", I guess.

Applicant came for a job interview wearing flip flops, camisole over a bikini top, and shorts that barely covered her ass, plus a half hour late. As offensive as this was, I'm so desperate I still want to hire her (in the actual interview she was very personable and mature). Just, you're 25, aren't you old enough to know how to present yourself? I would have forgiven the rest if she'd had sensible shoes on.

I'm sorry Steph. We both deserve better than feeling like this.

Wow.

Hey, my Gramicci pants that the legs zip off of might pass as "business appropriate shorts". And if they are not, I can always zip the legs on. Now I just need to parse what the instructions for permissible t-shirts mean.