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I have completed about 50 days at my new job. I am still struggling with the tasks assigned to me. The domain as well as the tools are totally new to me. I have not been able to deliver any task within the given time. The colleague assigned for helping me out is deliberately delaying in providing information and has very good ties with everyone in the company. Any work which I have completed till now was by begging for help with other colleagues within the team. My manager who earlier friendly is now avoiding me and has become cold to me.

Recently I messaged my manager asking for help with a task, I receive no response. A few hours later, I see the task being completed by him. My self-esteem which was already low has been crushed completely seeing this.

I am at a probationary period of 90 days. I am worried I will be dismissed from my job very soon. How can I fix this and save my job?

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    You've been at this position for less than two months and you're worried that you "still" haven't mastered your responsibilities yet? You just started! It took at least 6 months if not a year at my current company before I felt like I was confident in my knowledge and skills. I feel like you're catastrophizing your situation. If you feel you're struggling this much, ask if you can sit down with your manager and/or the person assigned to help you to talk about your progress, your current feelings about your performance, and to look for solutions to improve them.
    – goat_fab
    Nov 11, 2022 at 17:55
  • can you do some survey, how are other people trying to copeup with your colleague? Did you try to speak to your manager about your colleague? THe survey will tell if the colleague is at fault or if you are at fault
    – chendu
    Nov 14, 2022 at 4:57

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Ask your manager. We don't know why he did this. You don't.

Phrase it like: hey, how am I doing? what do I need to do better? this are the obstacles I have in becoming better, can you help me overcome them?

Then you will find out if and how you can save yourself. We are not distant mindreaders, only your manager knows ;)

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  • My manager usually does not respond. I am having a feeling that i am a hire-to-fire dummy
    – Abercrombie
    Nov 11, 2022 at 17:39
  • @Abercrombie that is a different topic. Surely you have some sort of meeting or standup with your manager, perhaps weekly or similar? If they don't respond your mails try going up to their office/desk, or perhaps a phone call.
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Nov 11, 2022 at 17:42
  • We have a sprint plan meet done every couple of weeks, I fear that confronting my manager now would make things hostile and worse.
    – Abercrombie
    Nov 11, 2022 at 17:50
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    @Abercrombie "confronting" sounds like a strong choice of words. Not communicating and not asking manager for feedback is worse than "confronting" (which, again, you aren't doing, you are having a professional conversation asking for feedback and input)
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Nov 11, 2022 at 17:52
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Probationary periods are a two way street. While it sounds like you are struggling, you might also consider if the company you're working for is doing its best for you.

Some environments will make you feel like a failure, but sometimes it's the environment that fails you.

Some people thrive in environments with fast deadlines and high expectations of autonomy. That doesn't make them any better or worse than people who can pace big projects over long periods of time or expect collaborative environments with a bit of official direction for rookies.

Wouldn't you prefer to be in a job where you meet at least weekly with your manager for direct feedback? Where you are given a grace period to get up to speed on things that are new to you? Where colleagues feel they can trust each other?

Maybe that kind of job is too good to be true, but you could easily find a job that offers more support than this company is giving you. You owe this much to your self-esteem.

The energy you would put into fixing your relationship with this company might be better used in a fresh job search. Fill a spreadsheet with job openings you want to apply for and focus on the opportunities ahead of you.

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Number of recommendations here:

The colleague assigned for helping me out is deliberately delaying in providing information and has very good ties with everyone in the company

First up, completely remove this type of thinking, because whether you are aware of it or not, this thinking will affect your behavior to said co-workers, which will then affect their interaction with you. It is the kiss of death to working relationships.

My manager who earlier friendly is now avoiding me and has become cold to me ... A few hours later, I see the task being completed by him

Seems to be an assumption that the delaying co-worker is talking to the manager and serving diss. Could be, but why jump to that conclusion? It will only affect how you work going forward.

I have been in the situation of helping a new dev a number of times. The one thing which made a difference in the interaction to me was the effort they put into something before contacting me.

E.G. did they write a lot of code and have bugs they can't figure out? - versus - they have little to no code asking what to do. Did they read the document given them and have specific questions on that document/instruction, or did they skim it or not read at all and then ask what to do?

Have no background on your tasks and your efforts on them, so not saying you are doing this, but just something to keep in mind. Put in a solid attempt before requesting help with something. Don't try to get help with everything.

You have just under half the probation time left. Recommend forgetting all the 'politics' stuff and get down to task at hand: put your own time into studying what you need to be able to complete your tasks.

Talk to the manager just as @Benjamin outlines, and then over the next 40 days, work hard, study, focus and you can start to hit your deadlines. The early 50 days would be considered a learning curve struggle, if you have it down by 90.

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