Affiliate Marketing Secrets

and a Bachelor Degree. I have a boss that treats me with disdain and refuses to give me an evaluation (which is the only way to get a raise) and has not furnished me with a clear job description. I have been working in the position for 9 months and have become the unofficial Office Manager and am depended on for day to day decisions. Unfortunately, the one person that has the power over me has no idea what I do or any respect for me (or anyone else not of her peer level of management). I have approached HR a number of times about this and they are aware of this hateful, dismissive and mean way she has of treating people but her immediate supervisor seems to be blind to this issue and is her friend – I don’t know if the next step is to get the larger corporation we are affiliated with involved or not. Or do I just sit and let her break all the rules by not complying with standard office policies that require her to furnish me with the job description and an evaluation in a timely fashion. I am perplexed as to how any business can be run this way. Opportunities in my geographical area a slim so leaving is not a viable option. Besides, I am an asset to the agency and have already saved them substantial sums of money and developed leaner processes in just my short time there. Any ideas?

I apologize in advance for length.
First, some background. I have B.S. degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering and upon completion of my thesis, I will have a M.S. in aerospace. Recently, I got engaged. Weddings are not cheap and my fiance (also a graduate student) has significant student loans, so we decided that I should get a second job.
At this time, I cannot relocate so my options were very limited. I originally applied for a full-time technical assistant position which required no more “technical expertise” than proficiency with Visio and Excel. The compensation was $12/hour, and I figured that was okay for the expectations. Upon seeing my resume, they decided to interview me for a mechanical engineering position (which they had not yet listed as available). A couple days later, they offered me a “mechanical engineering assistant” position, full-time, $12/hour. The description sounded like the original tech asst. job description. I was told this position would last 3 months, at which point they may or may not make an offer to hire me as an actual engineer. We need the money and I had no problem with that payment for those responsibilities in the first place, so I accepted. I figured either I just bombed the interview or their work load wasn’t quite yet big enough to justify hiring another engineer.
So my first day, I find they’ve placed me in the engineering department. My boss introduces me as an engineer. My duties include CAD, design of experiments, data analysis – the whole works. What’s more, it was clear they really need someone who has more knowledge of fluid flow and controls than most mechanical engineers. I spent some time in the lab today, and it seems they need someone who has had some experience in designing test schedules. And from the sound of it, they expect the person to fill all those niches to be me. I was talking to the woman in the cubicle next to me after clocking out and she asked me how I liked it there so far. I told her the work was interesting, but different from what I’d been told it would be. She said a new guy is starting tomorrow in the tech assistant position.
Now, I do find the work interesting and I think it will be rewarding. But it seems like they’ve hired me as an engineer for $12/hour with no benefits. I know engineering salaries aren’t what they used to be, but that seems low (equivalent to around $24k/year). Maybe that will change in 3 months, but at this point, I have no guarantee. Even if I did, I still don’t think it’s right to expect the performance that they are at that rate for any amount of time. Are my expectations unreasonable, or is this much lower compensation than normal? If it’s the latter, do I have any leverage or did I give that up when I was willing to accept that pay for the tech asst position?

I apologize in advance for length.
First, some background. I have B.S. degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering and upon completion of my thesis, I will have a M.S. in aerospace. Recently, I got engaged. Weddings are not cheap and my fiance (also a graduate student) has significant student loans, so we decided that I should get a second job.
At this time, I cannot relocate so my options were very limited. I originally applied for a full-time technical assistant position which required no more “technical expertise” than proficiency with Visio and Excel. The compensation was $12/hour, and I figured that was okay for the expectations. Upon seeing my resume, they decided to interview me for a mechanical engineering position (which they had not yet listed as available). A couple days later, they offered me a “mechanical engineering assistant” position, full-time, $12/hour. The description sounded like the original tech asst. job description. I was told this position would last 3 months, at which point they may or may not make an offer to hire me as an actual engineer. We need the money and I had no problem with that payment for those responsibilities in the first place, so I accepted. I figured either I just bombed the interview or their work load wasn’t quite yet big enough to justify hiring another engineer.
So my first day, I find they’ve placed me in the engineering department. My boss introduces me as an engineer. My duties include CAD, design of experiments, data analysis – the whole works. What’s more, it was clear they really need someone who has more knowledge of fluid flow and controls than most mechanical engineers. I spent some time in the lab today, and it seems they need someone who has had some experience in designing test schedules. And from the sound of it, they expect the person to fill all those niches to be me. I was talking to the woman in the cubicle next to me after clocking out and she asked me how I liked it there so far. I told her the work was interesting, but different from what I’d been told it would be. She said a new guy is starting tomorrow in the tech assistant position.
Now, I do find the work interesting and I think it will be rewarding. But it seems like they’ve hired me as an engineer for $12/hour with no benefits. I know engineering salaries aren’t what they used to be, but that seems low (equivalent to around $24k/year). Maybe that will change in 3 months, but at this point, I have no guarantee. Even if I did, I still don’t think it’s right to expect the performance that they are at that rate for any amount of time. Are my expectations unreasonable, or is this much lower compensation than normal? If it’s the latter, do I have any leverage or did I give that up when I was willing to accept that pay for the tech asst position?