marylsommers: Is poor appraisal a sign I'm for the boot?

Problems at work? Need advice? Our agony uncle ? and readers ? have the answers

Is my poor appraisal a sign that redundancy could be on the cards?

I work for a small company in a management role. When I took the job in April 2010 I did very well, earning a promotion at the end of my six-month probation period. However, at my most recent appraisal I was told that senior management have no confidence in me and that I am not good at my job. I felt this was extremely unfair and attempted to argue the point, but without seeming to change my direct manager's opinion.

The company is currently going through hard times, with little new work on the books for either this quarter or next year. It recently completed a large contract and so there are now extra staff members with little to do (including my direct manager). It strikes me that I may be being softened up for redundancy, as I would be an easy target: in the post less than two years, other staff available to perform my role and a relatively high salary to be saved.

Do you think it is worth raising this with my manager, and negotiating an easier (for everyone) exit? Or (if I'm being paranoid) would this make me look like a drama queen and put the idea in their heads? A year ago I would have been heartbroken to leave, but following my appraisal I am angry and demotivated.

Jeremy says

I doubt if you're being paranoid but you may be doing your case rather more harm than good.

I fear you made a mistake when you attempted to argue with your direct manager's appraisal. You were told that senior management had no confidence in you and believed you to be no good at your job. Now, I accept the possibility that this opinion may not have been based on an objective assessment of your abilities; it may indeed have been the start of a 'softening-up' process, preparing the way for redundancy. But you can't know that. If someone tells you you're inadequate ? however outraged you may feel ? it's no good crying unfair and trying to talk them out of that belief. All you can say, and should say, is: "I'm very sorry that's how senior management see me. I'd be grateful if you could let me know exactly where my weaknesses are thought to be. And I'll certainly do everything I can to earn a more favourable appraisal in the future." You should also ask, without sounding militant, in what particular ways your performance was thought to have deteriorated since your promotion a year ago.

On the assumption that your appraisal was on the level, the only way to improve it is not through argument but through performance. I'd therefore be disinclined to raise your suspicions with your manager. Whether you meant to or not, you'd probably set in train a course of actions that would make your departure inevitable. While it may already be, you don't know that. And do remember: until this recent unexpected setback, you loved your job.

Readers say

? Don't say anything to your manager and start looking for a new job. Tell your manager only when/if you have another job to go to. You can then be much more frank, and you have the advantage of being able to set a leaving date and be in a no-lose position. Until you get another job lined up, keep your head down: the knowledge that you are being proactive should be enough to keep your spirits up. Shammy B

? You may be one of the many who made a good initial impression but after a while struggled to sustain it. I know that's happened to me before ? and also that I got over it with the right direction. I can't be the only one who accepts the possibility of variations in performance over our working lives. Yet, when I read "awful boss, daring to assess my performance as less than perfect", it sometimes feels like it. oommph

? A while back, in a previous job, I too received a very negative review. I'll hold my hands up and admit that not all of it was unjustified, but some of it was. I also felt aggrieved that during a slightly difficult period where there was a change of management, some of my contributions to the workplace were completely overlooked. I decided to try and make some changes and demonstrate my worth but it was a struggle with little achieved.

On reflection I think it would have benefited me to start looking to make the break with the company a lot sooner and I regret not doing so. These are hard times and, while vacancies do exist, competition is now a lot tougher. So I wouldn't advise on handing in your notice just yet. Remain suitably diligent in your work for the time being but also make a concerted effort to look elsewhere. kitchenmagpie

Will my past lack of focus stop me finding a rewarding new career?

I'm a 31 year old who graduated as a mature student with a degree in English in 2009. Over the past two years, I've been working in Italy as an EFL teacher but I decided to return to the UK as I didn't really enjoy living abroad and wanted to start a career in a different area.

During my teens and 20s, I displayed a slacker attitude towards work: I tended to have a job for a year or so and by working in low-level positions in retail, call centres and temporary administration I never developed any of the skills which would put me in good stead for the future and look impressive on my CV. Hence, I decided to go to university later in life in the belief that a degree would pave the future for me and lead to a good career (hopefully in publishing). However, I now believe that belief was totally wrong.

I feel that my past life is starting to catch up with me as I have a CV full of gaps and jobs that show no clear skills progression. I also feel I'm now too old to get on a graduate programme or to be taken on by an employer in an entry role in order to develop those skills that I should have developed years ago. Hence, I don't really know what my next step should be in order to get my career on the right track.

Jeremy says

Some people know what they want to do from the age of eight or earlier. Amazingly, many of them get it right: that's the career they pursue relentlessly, that's what they qualify themselves to do and that's what they end up doing for the rest of their working lives with reasonable contentment.

For people such as this, a degree is a necessary means to a specific end. You long to be a lawyer or an astrophysicist? Then you know with certainty what degree course you need to take ? and that distant dream should pull you through. But to take a degree without an end in mind may solve nothing. It doesn't even guarantee you a job. Unless and until the individual mind becomes engaged ? not by the prospect of being paid but by the very nature of the work itself ? most of us will display what you call a slacker attitude. Yes, of course, there are conscientious people and lazy people. But I'm pretty convinced the bigger difference is between people who know what they want to do and go for it and those who don't.

Even it were possible, I doubt if getting yourself on a graduate programme would help you much. You're never going to apply yourself consistently until application becomes not a burden but a satisfaction.

Buried away in brackets, you mention publishing as a possible career. That's the only hint you give of your personal interests. Somewhere inside you, there must be others: interests that can fire you with enthusiasm. If you can manage to shake off your despondency and pessimism, there's hope ahead. However patchy and disorganised a CV may be, when genuine passion and commitment show through there will always be interested employers. But only you can know what you're genuinely committed to.

Readers say

? You can't change the past, but you need to find a way of presenting it in the best possible light to prospective employers. That may require the consumption of large portions of humble pie, but honesty is your best approach. You do need, however, to find some way of instilling confidence that you've turned over a new leaf. My other tip would be to focus on the skills you have acquired rather than the ones you think you've missed out on. We all make mistakes; it's how we learn from them and move on that counts. Good luck. Watty145

? Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer! Make is clear on your CV that you are volunteering on a regular basis to emphasise your reliability. Charities such as Kids Company are always on the lookout for mentors, for example, and environmental charities are crying out for people to lead school groups around nature reserves: you have the experience with kids, and it could be very rewarding and even lead to a permanent job. felik

For Jeremy Bullmore's advice on a work issue, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@guardian.co.uk. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.

Read next week's problems on the Work blog from Monday and post your advice ? we'll run the best of it alongside Jeremy's in next Saturday's column.

Jeremy Bullmore