Making stupid mistakes at work, have you experienced this?

I just started a new job almost 4 weeks ago. This is the best job I've had with amazing opportunities and benefits. Everyone here so far is nice and I really don't want to lose this job but with the amount of mistakes I've been making I'm terrified. I can't lose this job.

I've been making stupid mistakes at work. My HR job is a lot more data entry than I ever dealt with. I know how to use the program but I've been making the dumbest preventable mistakes ever like instead of Quin it is Quinn, clicking save but not knowing you have to click TWICE to save your input, etc.
Today I learned I made huge mistakes entering in someone's benefit start date fat fingering. All this could've been prevented if I just double checked or even triple checked and slow down! But to my small defense, he was 1 day past the deadline after given 30 days and I had to immediately input the information 5 minutes before closing time and this was all on my own my very first time when no one was around but this was still extremely embarrassing and perhaps my biggest mistake! I was mortified.

I went to talk to my supervisor about my errors. She says it happens when you're still learning but I am not sure if the amount of mistakes I've been making is normal. I've been independent my second week without supervision so maybe I just needed more time on training? I watched once and then bam I was on my own.

I fear with my paranoia it will feed more mistakes. Have you ever had a success story where your quality of work improved??? I know I just need to double or triple check and I'll be fine.... But I feel like an idiot today...

Stories and advice please?

 

You have said what the answer is: double check or even triple check and slow down

The key one being slow down. Take your time, you are still learning how to do the role and its tasks.

Mistakes get made all the time. The key is to learn from them. The other thing, you mention "before closing time". Are you able to work late at the office? If you take longer, can you stay past closing time? It should buy you more time to get up the learning curve and still meet deadlines.

 

I guess I could've stayed later. It just sucks when someone procrastinates and then expects you to get it done ASAP. Anyway, has anyone else had similar situations to mine?

How often did you make mistakes at a new job? Did you get scared you might get fired? I still have time to prove myself so I'm going to try...I will write down all my mistakes tomorrow and how to prevent them....

I just really hate feeling incompetent.

 

I'm almost a year into a new job and I still make mistakes all the time. Just try to make sure they're not new mistakes so much. Like charles said, learn from them. Other advice already given "slow down." Yes. I would also add, remain calm. Take a few minutes in a quiet place to gather your thoughts before you react. A good recovery can save your ass about 80-90% of the time, so when you've made a mistake, do every thing you can to fix it, own it, report it to whoever needs to know and , repeat, learn from it. Try not to do it again. That's what employers pay attention to the most, I think.
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also really important, move on. don't count mistakes and don't live there. everybody makes mistakes. you're not that special.

 

"to err is human, to really f#$% up takes a computer" - been working on computers since the early 90s. I've run out of digits on which to count my mistakes. *Everybody* makes them. Anyone who says they don't is a liar. As others have said it is how you react to them that matters more than the mistakes themselves. Try to relax and enjoy the job

 

Mixed has good advice: own it and move on.

Management will be watching to see how you deal with mistakes. Owning your error is important.


In a previous role, I was in a senior position and had been instructed to not speak to the press. I was speaking to many people in the course of my day and spoke to someone from a magazine that covers my industry. I knew the reporter and asked for our conversation to be off the record. Of course they published and attributed it to me.

Luckily, I spotted it before management and brought it to their attention.

I was sure I was about to be sacked. I got quite bollocking but I kept my job. In presenting it the way I did, I owned my error and was prepared to lose my job. Instead, I managed the situation on my terms.

 

When I screw up, it's generally spectacular and affects 100s of people, usually with significant penalties. It's an every few years sort of thing; but shit happens.

I admit I made a mistake and ask folks to get off my case until I get things fixed. "You can chew me out or fire me after I make things right".
My profession is full of people that won't admit to mistakes or make things right. Doing both has always served me well.

 

I make mistakes after 20 years of doing what I do it happens, were human. most of mine come when im overconfident or not paying attention to detail

 

So something happened made me feel not as bad. A HR intern that is a student and worked here for two years is seen as a good worker and she even trains me on some things. Today she admitted to my trainer a mistake and corrected it. Then I realized she sent out wrong email templates for IT set up and I had to immediately correct it. So now IT thinks I'm dumb because I put in a request for correction last week which will take long to correct so the blame kinda falls on me. I made sure to let my trainer know I caught the mistake and corrected the interns (in a non blaming way).

So this makes me feel better. I hope the trainer knows I didn't make more list of mistakes. I fee better that a good worker that's been there for two years can make mistakes that even I know more on and can correct. So now I have to tel her why it was wrong since I'm her supervisor which makes it weird because she trains me sometimes.

 

So I asked her on how I was doing so far so I could get some feedback on my performance. I mentioned how I'm working on my mistakes and she made it seem like it was normal and not a big deal...She said I've made strides since we first started and overall thinks I'm doing really good. She then said the hard part of the job is getting things done in time by payroll (getting new hire taxes/benefits in). I'm not sure what she meant by it because I can't control how soon they get certain forms in to me besides bugging them....so maybe that's what she meant. I just hope I'm not messing anything up. But yeah, I have anxiety and am currently seeking help without a therapist first....like therapy techniques. Seriously, I feel sick to my stomach with worries over the weekend...when I try not to think about this job it's in the back of my head. It's more challenging then other positions I've had so I'm nervous. Funny thing is, when I'm at work I'm not stressing because I think I'm facing my fear.

 

Thanks everyone. I've improved a lot since I double check but t sucks because it's like a new mistake comes up but I learn from it.

What kind of mistakes or how many mistakes do you think would cause you to be written up or fired?

 

You write like you expect to get fired any second. Do your best, own your mistakes when they inevitably happen and stop worrying about it.

 

So update: I have been at my job for two months now. I've been getting more comfortable and it seems less mistakes are made as time goes by. My boss just went over my overall training to see what I've been comfortable with and what I feel I needed more training on; basically rating the training I received. I have one more month of probation.

Anyway, I asked for feedback on how I've been doing. She just had good things to say like she's been happy I'm there, since the interview she thought I was the strongest and best candidate despite other candidates having more experience with the university. She said over time hopefully as I become more comfortable in the role I can intervene with senior management on HR guidelines and "push back" as I learn the job because a lot of people try to step over boundaries and rules.

She didn't really give me much criticism. She did, however, bring up one incident she really keeps stressing to me on which is time sensitivity. When I first started I didn't do something which delayed someone's pay and I guess she got the heat for it. My trainer didn't tell me I was supposed to do a task so it's not completely my fault. Since then, I haven't ever made that mistake because NOW I know. She seems to be hung up on it though even though she knows I jump on things now to avoid delays. My trainer said that it actually happens sometimes and we could've easily taken care of that incident but the guy had to cc the president, provost, her boss, my boss, and all of senior management when it was absolutely unnecessary and cause a huge stir about a bonus. If it happens we just issue the check and usually no big deal.

Other than that incident, she mentioned it's water under the bridge but brought it up for the second time. Though she says I've been doing a good job and I even told her I have learned from my mistake (I was fresh and new, give me a break!).


Does it sound like that the incident may hinder me passing probation or getting a raise in September? I doubt they would fire me just because we are losing two workers which are students and can't hire any until Fall. Also, my trainer just announced she was pregnant...so she would be gone on leave so they kind of need me more than ever now lol.