<p>i'm a junior who has recently started with a company. There has been a departure of another junior engineer in my department and i'm expected to take over her work. </p>
<p>The problem is that I have no idea how to do her work...</p>
<p>any suggestions/notes of comfort/success stories?</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to ask for help from colleagues and superiors.
It’s not like your boss WANTS you to fail. No, your boss wants you to do well.</p>
<p>yup, i will ask for help, thanks!</p>
<p>anymore advice?</p>
<p>I agree with terenc - ask lots of questions and don’t feel bad about it. I asked questions at my engineering job, even though I had a master’s degree! If I were your boss, I would be concerned if you weren’t asking!</p>
<p>lowendnewbie, your situation is not unusual at all. I believe it happens in every profession. I’ve experienced that helpless feeling you have right now. Sometimes, you just need a nudge in the right direction. As the others have said, ask for help. You might be surprised to find out you know a lot more than you think you do. Good luck.</p>
<p>I’ve done that a few times already. As others have said, the key is asking questions. Everyone wants you to succeed, and if they didn’t think you can handle it, they wouldn’t have given you the responsibility. </p>
<p>If I were your manager, I would’ve arranged for you to spend a significant amount of time with the departing engineer before she left so there would be a transitional period. Not sure why they would do this to you because I’m sure they had some notice that she was leaving.</p>