This was a very weird experience. I interviewed over the phone and in person and was hired to be a Customer Solutions Specialist. I was told I would be doing the job description as advertised and then also helping out our receptionist a little bit from time to time, which I was fine with. I was told we hired two people for the same position. When I started work, one person was appropriated to the Customer Solutions Specialist as advertised. I was told that my computer set-up was at the receptionist desk...which seemed odd that I was separated from what should have been the rest of the team I was hired to join. My manager then trained me to work the switchboard since the regular receptionist was out that day. It seemed odd, but I went with it since it was my first day.
My 2nd day of work, the regular receptionist was there and delighted that they'd hired me. I soon found out why. She walked me around the office to introduce me to people and everyone kept saying "Oh, that's great, they hired you a helper!" This was...quite confusing to me to say the least. At first I didn't even think they were referring to me as "the helper." After a couple days of learning receptionist duties, I talked to my manager because I was really confused about my role at the company. Here's where it gets pretty bad:
My manager, who seemed like a decent person at first, literally said the quiet part out loud: She told me that at first they tried to hire a 2nd receptionist, but corporate wouldn't approve it. So they re-configured the job post to be more "customer service-oriented" and that got it approved. So they hired me to be the assistant to the receptionist under the guise of working in customer service/account management. Thus, I'm answering the switchboard and re-filling the candy bowl because corporate wouldn't approve it otherwise. She kept saying that "if you think about it, the customer solution specialist role that you applied to sort of also covers receptionist duties. " She wanted to expand my role in the future...but this is just not right. You shouldn't have to trick people into working for you. Hire for the role you are filling...not some weird vague language to trick more qualified people into working for you.
Also, if you're considering working for this place, please don't. It's so depressing. It's the sort of workplace you walk into with 15 year-old Amazon Basics corded mice and keyboards, monitors from 2015 that you have to squint at to see properly and coffeemakers that were purchased during the Bush administration. It's just not a good environment and definitely not a place to grow your career.
STOP LYING TO JOB APPLICANTS.
