u/sidewalktimbit

It’s my first time working in a higher pressure environment in my field and it seems like everyone I work with is constantly working 10-12 hour days. However, most of these people are 1-2 pay grades above me. There’s always that line in the contract that requires “some overtime as needed” so I guess it’s allowed, but does that give them free rein to expect 10+ hours from me every day? When I was interviewing, the hiring manager told me it was a 9-5 schedule (HAHA) so I do feel like I’ve been mislead. Especially when I’m in a meeting after hours and everyone else is a higher title than me. Is it ever acceptable for me to find a corporate way to say “guys, I make 70k and you make 200 so I’m going to log off now but best of luck”

Im in my first corporate/industry job in the biotech field after a few years of being in more chill government positions post grad. Im in the US by the way.

Something that’s an issue in my workplace is that I have to follow up 5-10 times and often even more to get a response.

Im working on quarterly reports and I need to request data from other departments. It’s not anything complex, they just need to press a few buttons and pull a report. The process goes like this:
- i email the department requesting the data and ask if i can have it by x date. No response.
- the date draws closer and i follow up again. No response.
- the date passes. I email again and get a response that they will get it to me by x date.
- the date passes again and I follow up again.
-I finally get the data but it’s missing pieces, inaccurate, or not what I requested.

This whole process happens 3-5 times before I get anything useful, resulting in a 3-4 week delay, and then I have to work overtime to get the reports in on time. It’s not just one department either but across the board.

I’ve looped my manager in and expressed my concerns. I even made a timeline of all the times and dates I had to follow up and told her I’m concerned about my ability to meet the deadlines under these conditions. She said she would review it but all that came of it was just telling me to follow up again.

Basically, are my expectations too high or is this insane? Does my workplace just suck?