Posted by ChrisK on June 1, 2000, at 7:02:18
In reply to How to cope with a sudden low, posted by Louisa on May 31, 2000, at 14:03:18
Three years ago I was working in a chemical plant as an engineer and had a boss who was a workalohic and could never be pleased. I did a large group of experiments to optimize a process and wrote a fairly large report documenting the procedures and results. I ran it through my counterparts in QC and R&D as well as a few other engineers. Everyone understood it and told me it was nice work. I turned it into my boss in order for it to be catalogued and the process changes to be made. It came back a day later with more red writing on it than any other paper or report I had ever written. It really brought me down and destroyed any confidence or trust I had for that boss ever again.
Anyway I reprinted the report and asked his boss to look at it behind my boss's back. He liked it with some minor changes. It may not have been the best idea as you can really cross people by going over their head but the report did impress his boss more than him.
I guess the lesson was to get several opinions from people in similar positions before it's submitted. Then if it is completely rejected by your adviser, ask the dean just to review it for some constructive criticism. It rarely hurts if you put it in terms of constructive criticism. You may get enough ammunition to shoot down your adviser's assesment.
I know it's a tough time and they can be real a-holes but eventually you will get through.
Stay with it,
Chris
poster:ChrisK
thread:35390
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000526/msgs/35474.html