I suggest asking for more to do. Then go out and look for a new position.

And I agree that Ivy (or at least upper level university) does matter. I know from personal experience that Brown is much better/responsive to sutdents than Boston University, and BU is way more responsive than Rutgets. More money per student=more care.

You’re just not used to being insignificant. Until you make director in a top company, don’t expect much.

Work for what you want.

Face time won’t help you gain anything of value and they will cut you in a second for no reason just to make the stocks look good. They will also use you as cheap labor without promoting you since you are young. Wages are not rising in the US unless you count the super wealthy on top, which hold up the numbers. The old timers can afford to suck it up because their wages and momentum were pre-2001.

Now if they are training you and you are learning something stay, otherwise don’t waste your time in a job that doesn’t pay the bills and doesn’t invest in you. If you can find another job it doesn’t matter, you can always leave this one off your resume. No one will care.

If you want, think of it this way. If you are a business you only operate if you are making a profit or have a real chance at making a profit. If you see no chance in making a profit you must change direction. If your job isn’t going to afford the costs of maintaining your labor then you are working in insolvency. You must move up or move out! You cannot stay there, as it will emotionally crush you. The old timers live in a different world, you don’t have the opportunities they did.

With globalization you don’t have time to wait. It’s a massive run for the top before you are stuck on the bottom. Think of it as a large wave and we are on the back end attempting to claw our way over the top of it right now. The boomers were in the right place and right time riding it down like a surfer. The next wave won’t come from America, but outside from the ashes of a worldwide underclass. You must move quickly or you will be left behind and stuck on the bottom.

Good luck. All the GenX and beyond need it.

It takes longer than 3 months in a large corporation with the changes that occur daily to know the key players. What some MBA new grads possibly do not realize is that if you do not make it to VP level by 35 you are not taken seriously. It is a whole new game of making “A’s” and new hires should look at this way.

Although us Gen Y’s classify ourselves as the innovative, tech savvy and fast-pace bunch, patience and attention to detail are rudimentary skills most of us lack. Master those. Then our true strength will speak for itself. We would have an easier time switching out of the college mode to a real life mode, if our boss explained the “why” behind the boring tasks. Can’t blame him/her for not explaining when we didn’t ask the question either.

In my view, the key issue you are facing is not if you should change positions. It’s more of how to adapt to a different type of learning required of beginners for life. Talk to your boss, talk to your co-workers…Everyone knows the best is not to complain. But if you don’t know how to say it in a positive tone, complain. Why not! You are learning. A good boss will understand and will show you how to express in more positive tones over time. If it backfired at you, that would be a darn good reason to quit! Quit bad managers, but don’t quit jobs…when those jobs are better than when you joined, you’re ready to take on more tasks.

The Boomer generation prides itself on working up from the mailroom, because in their day that was possible. My own uncle LITERALLY started in the mailroom and wound up an executive (with no college degree, by the way). Yes, hard work and company loyalty was rewarded there for a while, but look where it got the Boomers once the Information Age began… downsizing, layoffs, and busted retirement plans from the end of pensions and now-worthless company stocks. These days, the best a mailroom clerk can hope for is to become mailroom supervisor. That’s it. He/she is never going to get anywhere near executive.

Long story short, it’s a new era, and if a job is beneath your education, ability, and experience, you have every right to seek out better. You have every right NOT to settle. The only person who is 100% invested in your career is YOU.

Most of the people telling you to suck it up are working low paying, high stress, and/or boring jobs that mean little or nothing to the company. These people are one stock plunge away from being jobless. If you want to get that awesome job, you are going to have to quit working at the company that you are working for.

You did not graduate from an Ivy League school just to be doing the same job as the dufus who went to State U and graduated with a 2.2 GPA. You are elite. You are better than those that went to lesser schools. You deserve special treatment, a generous salary, sexy co-workers, and stimulating work. If a company cannot satisfy you, cut all ties now and move to a company where the big dogs roam.

The older generation says get what you can and be happy with it. Forget that. Risk everything that you have so that you can acheive optimal success in life. Do not play it safe and complain like the other posters here. They do not like what they do but at the same time, they do not want other people, especially younger people, to achieve greatness rapidly. These people are jealous of the young, rich, sexy, and successful in life. They think that you should have to wait until you are 80 years old to be rich.

Get rich now. The money is waiting for you.

Also, as an aside, young people have no compunction about leaving a job after a short stint. They grew up watching their parents get downsized, pensions taken, and generally dragged through the mud to support their families by these very same companies.

In my eyes, having a random “office job” is a 21st century version of being factory worker. Mind numbing and meaningless. A bachelor’s degree is the HS diploma of yesteryear, and the graduate degree is the new measuring stick.

If your initiative is quelled, walk out or hop out. A career is more important than what some recruiter might think. If your initiative is rewarded, there you go, that’s what was lacking…

Anne Fisher’s comments were on the money. And yes, should try to stick it out for at least a year.

But there is a flip side. If a company lacks the wisdom to properly train and orient an employee and allows a bright and enthusiastic new hire to languish (and under utilize someone who can add value to the company), they are undervaluing the new hire.

Ultimately, you can’t leave it to others to dictate your fate. If your current employer doesn’t value your skill set, you owe it to yourself to find a company that does.

In 3 months you dont even learn the name of the person sitting three desks over.

Give it a while longer. you are already in a F500 company make it happen.

Network and learn what makes your company and department tick.

Grades from school get you in the door and after that they count for little.

Don’t worry about the people who are calling you a whiner. But do take some time to realize that creativity and innovation are a very small part of the real world. Even in creative fields like advertising, repetition and consistency make up the majority of the jobs. The world can only change so fast–so much for thinking outside the box! ALSO, you are learning a lot in a far less conscious manner than you were used to in school, so don’t feel like you’re wasting your time.

The old folks think that you have to forgo a life and satisfaction to get ahead (there definition of success). This new kid definition is work that fulfills him. Most big companies are not geared toward that mentality, the new kids careers are not to shoot up like a rocket to the moon and suffer the extra g’s, but ride the waves on a sail boat and enjoy the ride. I am 41 and I am in computers and I was on that rocket, and it seldom gets to the attended destination.

I just wish I was smart as the new kids today and enjoyed the ride more.

So, quit the job and take the next boat. It may be the best ride of your life.

Based on your question, I’m going to assume your career goals include becoming a corporate executive. If that is not the case, then you should leave this job and pursue one that will get you on the right track. If my assumption is correct, then you should stay. Your in. You have a job at a company that you wanted to work for. That’s half the battle. Now you just have to navigate your way through the organization to get to where you want to go.

I will share with you two examples. I started out of college working for one of the largest companies in the world. I was on a training program. My division was installing new distribution centers and needed everyone in the program to help. We spent months working in the warehouse. Dirty, backbreaking work. A co-worker complained about the work he was doing. “I went to college to do this?” he would say. Months later when the company had to reorganize and downsize, he was let go. Because of that past warehouse experience, I was later promoted to manage one of the DCs, which then kicked off a series of promotions. I now have a great six-figure position running my own district and a work history I am proud of.

My second example involves another person on the same training program I was on. He was disciplined and driven. He also had to do his fair share in the warehouse and other non-exciting work. But he found mentors quickly in his career. People who were on the “fast-track”, but not top executives yet. He learned a great deal from them. He delivered on every assignment. He was willing to move anywhere in the world for assignments that would help him grow. Now he is a Division President, and a future CEO (in my opinion). Yet, he started at the bottom with the rest of us.

Bottom line: There is a fast-track in every organization, it’s up to you to get yourself on it. With hard work, good mentors, successful assignments, and a little luck, you can find that track in your current organization. Best of luck on your quest.

Serve your country!