Advise needed: Probable manipulation

A question about : Advise needed: Probable manipulation

I'm in a odd situation & trying to figure out what to make of it.

I was hired as a trainee production engineer having been a test engineer in previous roles elsewhere. (Tough job market in this area for engineers)
The company secretary expressed concerns hiring me on my first day (I know, red flag), a theme she has repeated whenever I raised concerns of unprofessional conduct of staff, including abusive behaviour, dereliction of duty exposing the company to contractual fines & shipping sub-standard product with blu-tak as a component.

I work under a production engineer that's been with the company for +10yrs.

In the 1 1/2 years of working at the company, and still a trainee, I have continuously battled to establish basic principles of production engineering, including systematic flowcharts. Attempted to educate my boss on standard industry practices, including KPIs, development processes, FAT & VAT.

This week I expressed a concern that my boss was dismissing 2 projects without due consideration. Again, the company secretary stated that she felt that I was not a production engineer & she would reconsider position within the company.

I found out this Friday that my boss has never design a production line, usually by getting our admin assistant to do all of the work using information provided by the development engineers.
Confirming this I checked what my boss was supposed to be working on, not a single schematic, instruction or chart with his name.

Either the company secretary is unaware, indicating staggering incompetence, or she is aware and using my naivety to keep me as a trainee with low wages, Ј21K instead of Ј35k.

My boss is a nice guy, but too much of a yes-man(to senior staff) to be a competent manager & no decernaible engineering ability.

Best I can figure, this is a no win situation.

I would be greatful for any advise, even if its for me to consider a different viewpoint.

Best answers:

• You are right, challenging your boss in the way you seem to be suggesting is a no win situation for you.
  If you cannot influence their processes in a positive way, it is time to leave, challenging the boss's authority is a hiding to nothing.
  If you don't like it, then you are free to get another job and leave them to it
• Agree entirely with hcb
  To be frank I suspect you have yourself marked out as a trouble maker, which is not a good place to be.
• Thank everyone for taking time to reply.
  bluesnake: I appreciate the different view point.
  Your abrasive response has helped me put my thoughts into some sort of order.
  There's no need to "read between the lines", I stated I was a trainee near the bottom, which covers the whole qualification bit.
  There are a lot of transferable skills between a test engineer and a production engineer with an education common to both. It is quite a common career path.
  I have studied the role, asked for advice from industry friends and designed / developed / implemented / maintained production lines, equipment and KPI systems.
  Protected my boss for 1 1/2 years.
  Still no end goal for my training or even a job description, despite requesting these several times.
  With a little paranoia and given Friday's revelation it seems he has a vested interest in keeping me as a trainee.
  I have no problems with people with few or no qualifications doing any sort of responsible job. Met a few utterly brilliant engineers who started out on the shop floor (as I did), having keen ability and interest, also a near physic ability (not like me). Equally I've worked with brilliant Oxbridge engineers, methodical, disciplined and incredibly intelligent.
  Both groups have their merits and follies, but both groups endeavour to continuously learn and adapt.
  My boss has shown none of the ability to learn or adapt and the lack of schematics indicates that he has always hidden behind others.
  The admin assistant and I seem to be another shadow to hide in.
  One of the projects that were dismissed was a request by the Quality department to meet regulatory standards, a customer requirement.
  If I do not do this I would leave myself open to a disciplinary.
  Ironically, it is to systemise production line setup and validation. Meaning my boss would just need to follow a step-by-step guide to validate future lines.
  I was at an impasse, which I took to HR to discuss.
  I have never before had the need to talk about my boss to HR, in my entire work life.
  HR raised a meeting with the company secretary. Felt like I was kicking a puppy.
  Yes-man issue:
  The device with the blu-tak was to be used on oil rigs.
  I got the company to talk to our customer about this instead of concealing the fact.
  I did not approach the customer, nor did I threaten to reveal the companies dubious actions. I did, however, point out the ramifications to those that would take action, after speaking to those that would not (including my boss).
  Being a yes-man in most fields of management is a liveable offence. However, in the above situation it could have got someone killed.
  I have taken no action with Friday’s revelation other than to fact check and post here.
  Bluntly put, I do not know what to make of it & needed to discuss the issue anonymously.
• I need to get out of Dodge.
  Exit plan is to build a portfolio of work done with historical evidence.
  Aim to be newly employed by the end of September.
  Tricky bit #1:
  Need to be careful not to use any company confidential materials.
  Tricky bit #2:
  Explaining why I was a trainee for up to 2 years.
  Tricky bit #3:
  Sugar coating my reasons for new employment.
  Don't believe any employer would hire someone who is "less than complementary" of their prior employer.
  This will make #2 a real pain.
  Tricky bit #4:
  If my management are unwilling to acknowledge my role (see secretary comments) then I'll need to rely solely on my evidence of my abilities.
  This will need to be contextually succinct.
• If the market is as tough as tough as you say, then surely any future employer will understand why you've been a trainee for 2 years.
  It's strange you feel the need to embellish your CV, insult your previous employers, and sugar-coat your reasons of leaving in an attempt to boost your own career. That possibly says more about you than it does them.
  You send out your CV, you go to interviews, you tell them what you're capable of. Getting a new job isn't rocket science.
• My employer's honesty has been called into question due to recent events. Should I trust these people, who have yet to provide me with a job description, to give a factual account of my work to any potential new employers?
  Number one question in all interviews;
  So why are you leaving your current employer?
  I aim to tell the truth, but not in the way in which I've expressed on this site. Finding a way to be honest without dragging it through the mud.
  Voltaire7:
  Right now I'm angry at potentially having my career stunted and undermined for either job security of my boss or financial gain of our employer.
  Instead of kicking over the pot plants, publicly declaring people as frauds, attempting blackmail or quitting on the spot I asked for advice on an anonymous forum to help straighten things out in my head. This limits the potential damage to just me having my feelings hurt as opposed to discussing it in the real world here where people can get sacked.
  How does this make me an opportunistic viper, as implied by your post?
  I'm here for advice, constructive criticism or a different vantage I may for missed.
  I'm not here to trade insults, that includes (but not limited to) my current employer or other forum users.
• It's funny you chose to construe my post as a personal insult when all I did was summarise and comment on your own intentions.
  Why not set up in business on your own?
• I'm good at engineering systems.
  Have a wide and in depth skill set in various fields (Electronics, mechatronics, computing, microelectronics, high-voltage, accoustics & telecomms).
  Love every aspect of building something new or adapting current tech.
  Unfortunately business skills I lack.
  Don't like managing people (makes cat hurding look fun & easy), poor at valuing my own time, suspect without someone to throttle me back I'd blow the ventures cash on every bell or whistle that looks shiney and would be taken for a ride by anyone with a business card.
  The self valuation possibly played a part in my current predicament.
• Dewix, apologies for finding my response as abrasive. It was meant to cast a different light on things.
  Speak to you manager. You will probably find that he will give you a better reference than you think, because if he does not he may be shackled to you for life. Also because management talk, other divisions may not want you either, so he may not be able to palm you off to another department. However, if your organization is large, then this may be possible, and may be easier for you.
  You have gone to personnel, complained to the company secretary and possibly other comments and actions over the 1.5 years - do you not think that you are urinating in your own drinking water, because that is how it looks to me?
  Engineers are not that scarce. No one is irreplaceable. We engineers are just another tool in the box, and if we break, we get replaced. We often only exist to do McJob, and flip the daily proverbial burger.
  However if you do not learn, and understand how to deal with people, and interact within teams, and change your mind set, I fear you will have the same issue no matter where you are employed. You have to learn how to join and milk the system, or alternatively start you own company, otherwise employment and your working life will be hard and frustrating.
• Have worked for other companies and never had the need to take an issue to HR before this company.
  I am considered open, aproachable and sociable.
  HR visits were due to:
• risk to lives,
• finacial loss due to an internal breakdown of working relationships (dept A demanded that I do not give dept B the requested information),
• being screamed at and spat in the face (over the reprocussions of the life risk issue),
• and last weeks conflict of interests.

All of the above was discussed with my boss, he was a witness to the spitting incident, which he did nothing, making it nessesary to approach HR.
The more I think about it the more I realise I need to get out.

• Its a small company.