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Imagine working really hard to qualify for a particular job. You do research and gain the skills you need to do the work and do it well.

How would you react if it seemed like the boss didn’t appreciate any of your hard work?

In this story, one employee feels that way. Nobody has told him that exactly, but every time he looks at his work schedule, he feels like it’s a slap in the face for working so hard.

Keep reading for the whole story.

AIO to my boss(es) indirectly telling me I have no skills?

I got a job a little more than a month ago and I just started a couple of weeks ago.

I have to get my work schedule through a website, and when I do it also lists a bunch of details about my job–what area of the plant I’m working in, whether I’ve requested time off, etc.

And there’s one little box that’s been ticking me off, and I’m not sure if I’m the problem or not.

This would bother me too.

Under my schedule, in a box labelled “Core Skills”, it says “none.”

Which is, to put it mildly, complete freaking nonsense.

I’m not going to sit here and detail my resume for you, but that’s because I already did that when I applied for the job.

What was the point of going through all the trouble of outlining my core skills and discussing them in the interview if they were going to be ignored?

OP shares the first thing he thought about doing.

At best, it’s a sign that the company I work for is inconsiderate and diminishing; at worst they’re trying to gaslight me into believing that I have no skills so they can control what I do.

Now, my first instinct to seeing the word ‘none’ was to get ticked off and demand an explanation and for the issue to be corrected, by taking the skills from my resume and running it through their app or whatever.

I honestly felt like somebody owed me an apology for this.

It felt worse than someone telling me to my face that I had no skills–it’s like all that time I put in wasn’t worth it.

Then, he had another thought.

Then I realized I was being a bit ridiculous.

I have a history of being somewhat sensitive to criticism, which is why I focused on learning as many skills as I could at every job I’ve had; if I can’t be likeable I can at least be useful.

Whenever I get upset at the words people are using to me, I try to evaluate their criticism objectively; if someone told me to my face I had no skills, or that I “can’t” do certain jobs that I can and have done, I would balance what they’re saying against my own experience, realize that they don’t know what they’re talking about, and ignore them.

But that doesn’t feel like something I can do at work; I can’t just tell my boss to get bent, I’m driving the forklift whether he likes it or not.

He knows one skill he does not have.

For all the work-related skills I’ve cultivated over my twenty-plus years of experience, I am terrible at office politics.

I don’t know how to calmly, politely tell my bosses that they’re mistaken and the mistake needs to be corrected in a palatable way.

I’m either going to be too meek and cowardly, or (more likely) I’m going to start yelling and cursing and end up getting fired.

He’s worried that what he would actually be told would be even worse.

Most likely, though, I’ll be told that it just doesn’t matter. It’s not a big deal, and I’m overreacting.

Which, if that’s true–makes all that time I spent doing different jobs and learning as much as I could; all the effort I put in to get this job, by researching the company, practicing my interview skills, buying the PPE and downloading the apps I “needed” to do the job; all those years honing and refining my skills so I could end up here, doing this job–a complete waste.

And that just doesn’t sit right with me.

They shouldn’t even have that box there. Then there would be no issue. Honestly, I think someone was just too lazy to enter anything in the box.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person thinks he’s overreacting.

Another person suggests talking to HR.

These are the real questions to ask.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who received a work email from a place she never even applied.

Nobody thinks he should be concerned about that box.

It really would be better if the box didn’t exist. If he didn’t have a big fat “none”staring back at him in the skills field, he wouldn’t be upset and overthinking this.

He got the job. If nobody has complained about his work or cut his hours, they clearly think he’s a good employee.

It still wouldn’t hurt to bring it up to HR. At the very least, maybe they could explain why the box is there, if it actually matters, and if it’s possible to add skills to the box. Or, he could try to ignore it.