Comments on: Ask the CHO: Should you work for a year in a job that sucks

By: Jelena

Jelena — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:05:42 +0000

Bad job is like a bad relationship.. The sooner you get out of it – the better.

By: Neva

Neva — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:42:19 +0000

Hi Ferdy,

Something I have learned over my long years in the workforce is the following:

If a person settles (for whatever reason) for a job beneath his/her level, experience and capability, he/she will always be treated at that settled level, no matter how good his/her ideas, no matter how much experience, no matter how bright. It doesn’t matter if someone was once a CEO, if he/she settles for a middle-management job, that’s how he/she will be treated. If someone was once a manager and settles for being an administrative assistant, that’s how he/she will be treated.

People settle for lesser jobs all the time for personal reasons, but most bosses don’t like the idea of brighter people below them. They don’t have the professionalism or leadership skills to work with that or to give people (other than themselves) opportunities to shine.

Managements that understand the importance of inclusive management — briefing and debriefing all relevant employees and getting the most out of them — do great things for their corporations, but they are very few and far between.

Get my drift? Do whatever it takes to find a job fitting for your level of competence, even if that means taking some extra courses in your own time, etc.

As you change your focus on that new goal, the irritations at work will diminish, because you will have more important things on your mind; you will know that it is just a matter of time before you will be leaving.

By the way, before you look for a new job, take the time to determine (in writing for on-going reference) your life goals to make sure any new job is not only aligned with your abilities, but also with your passions, strengths and lifetime goals.

By: Ferdy

Ferdy — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:34:13 +0000

Hi everyone, thanks for all the comments, they´ve been inspiring and helpful. I´m working as an environmental specialist in this company for the last 4 years now.
The job sounds great and it was fine for the first two years.
There are things though that I started to notice whcih have made working suck and makes me want to quit:
1. direct boss has no idea about environmental systems and my day to day work(he´s the quality manager but they added “environment ” to his responsibilities) so it´s always me presenting and informing the general manager, HIS boss. It´s so dysfunctional because my category is much lower thatn the general manager and yet I have to eat all his stupid comments and remarks . plus all this makes me look bad with my direct boss. its driving me nuts.
2 . a lot of coworkers i have to work with are department heads and bosses by their own right, i.e. higher level than me so a lot of times my emails arent answered, i´m belittled, not listed to, treated like shit. Another dysfunctional aspect to this job of mine. i feel sometimes like im banging my head agains the wall and all i do is annoy people.
3. The environmental work im doing has come down to paperwork ,documents authorizations and managing external companies, and maintaining an environmental procedural system.
I carry outt few continuous improvement or betterment projects because nobody is interested here in environment. But they do end up forcing projects on me cause our environmental system requires it and although it´s challenging i hate it cause its all political , nobody´s interested and it just means i have to deal with those darn managers.
This has sapped most of my motivation and interest i n work.
4. pay is low for what i do and the responsibilities i have.

Dont know what to do, i feel like if i quit im a loserand throwing in the towel.
thanks guys for reading this.

By: K.

K. — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:32:12 +0000

I am in an abusive work situation with a boss that throws emotional tantrums like a toddler. I am yelled at on a weekly basis by this woman who is also the owner of the business. I have only been there for 3 months and I have almost quit numerous times. It has gotten to the point where I tell myself I am quitting everyday, yet everyday I still find myself continuing to go in because I have no choice since I am single and have to pay the rent, bills, car payment, etcetera by myself. I was laid off from my last position when the economy went south and found myself unemployed for nearly 2 years. I live in a small somewhat economically depressed town where good paying jobs are sometimes hard to come by. I don’t want to move because this is where my family lives but I just feel so trapped right now. I am stressed out to the point where my physical health is being affected now. I am depressed and constantly tense because you never know when the owner is going to blow up. The job doesn’t pay me enough to pay my monthly bills so financially I am going in a hole every month. I am furiously looking for another job, but fear it may take another 2 years to find one and I cannot stay in this job that long. It’s Sunday night right now and I am in tears as I write this because I can’t stand the thought of going back there. I want to quit so badly, but how can I when I’m the only source of income? I hate the owner with a passion, which affects my job performance and my attitude. Just the very thought of her makes me sick. The job itself is monotonous, boring and even worse, it doesn’t allow me to use any of my best and/or favorite skills. If I didn’t need what little money I get, I would have left the first time she yelled/cussed at me. I feel as though I have compromised my dignity and self-respect in ways I never would have before this recession. I don’t know what to do and I can’t find any advice for people that are single and in my situation. I’m trying to do the responsible thing by hanging in, because if I quit and it takes a long time to get another job like it did last time, I’ll end up losing everything. At the same time. I feel like everyday I go to that place, I am taking one step closer to a mental breakdown.

By: soku

soku — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:37:13 +0000

ooopps… let me correct a statement : I moved from a major TTL domain company to this small firm to start this outsourced project. Inspite of all the miserable things my team does to me, i make sure that my client is happy :)

By: soku

soku — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:40:55 +0000

I am so glad this website is here. I feel bad for everyone out there going through such rough times but this has been a real help. The more I write, the more I realize I have to turn in my resignation. I am just scared.

By: soku

soku — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:31:56 +0000

Thanks so much for your mail! Last week the Hr gathered feedback from all employees and they have complained that they are not having enough responsibilities and want more visibility. Finally the management decided to share almost all of my activities with the team. We created separate heads in the team and now all my responsibility is given over to them. Kinda out of place and no work now. The saddest thing is that even still the people are not happy. This is a small Indian company and a totally unprofessional space to work. I moved from a major TTL domain company to this small firm to start this outsourced project. Inspite of all the miserable things my team does to me, i make sure that my client is not happy. Trust me this people work for money, fame, gossiping and back stabbing. These women are just brain washing many guys over here and taking them for a ride. None is able to identify the hidden motives of the person behind all this unhealthy politics in this place. I have no right to fire any one nor does my management want to do because it might spoil the credibility of the company. I agree that I am not cut out to be a manager in this place with the same team. If this team changes, things might change but trust me i am in the verge of letting this job go. should i wait for others to leave or shall i leave this place? The culture in india is so different. people and family and in-laws will betray me if i chose to get back to school. i cant leave this job because of family pressure too. Unfortunately the normal indian institutions dont groom and individual to dream, to have a goal or to be passionate about something. Trust me friend i too am out of focus. i wish i had some one in this world to help me out because i cant help myself.

By: Neva

Neva — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:35:00 +0000

To Soku

Judging by your two posts, you are not cut out to be a manager. That’s not to say that you won’t be one day, but you aren’t right now.

The recent global financial crisis has highlighted how important it is for us to be self-sufficient and individually responsible for our careers, futures and security.

The way to do that is to set life goals and accept responsibility for completing them, without the expectation of assistance from the various corporations with which we happen to work along the way. It is important for our passions — what we love to do, what we are good at — to align with our goals.

Take the time to determine your passions and life goals (preferably in the following areas: financial and investments, family and home, career and work, health and fitness, hobbies and spare time, community if that’s an interest. Break those life goals into medium- and short-term goals, then daily goals, and be brutal about accomplishing them each day.

If management turns out to be a goal, then enrol in management courses. Don’t wait for your company to send you to the courses, do it on your own in your own time.

Meantime, it is important not to be friends and socialize with the people you are managing. It is better to have a distance that will make it easier to handle difficult staff situations. You will gain more respect that way. And a vital rule for managers: never, never, never gossip about anyone.

Companies are all about money and profit. That’s what they are for. Successful companies create basic office rules, such as no personal texting, no personal use of computers, no socializing when there is work to be done, zero tolerance for gossiping, etc. Create rules for your team that fit in with your company and situation. Either expand their daily routine to fit the work hours or create projects for them to do to fill the hours — projects that will benefit both them and the company and receive buy-in from senior management.

Reward your team when it meets team goals and accomplishes your projects, penalize them when they don’t. If they continue to fail or disregard you as a manager, arrange with senior management to have them fired (or do it yourself, if you have the authority).

They will soon realize that you mean business, change their ways or leave. If they leave, you will have the opportunity to pick a new A Team.

When you do your goal-setting exercise, if management does not turn out to be a passion or a goal, take the steps immediately to change your direction (even if it means going back to school). Do it now while you are young.

We need to get along with our co-workers, but we do not need to be friends with them.

Good luck. It is not worth being unhappy at work.

By: soku

soku — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:31:05 +0000

This is my fourth company since 2006. I worked for 1 year with my first and second employer. 2years with my third employer
and 1.7 years with my fourth employer(current). I started as a tele marketing/admin executive, then a customer support
executive, then a helpdesk executive and finally a sr. customer support engineer. NO where i was happy to stay for long.
Every where some or the other problem/dissatisfaction made me leave and move on. With my present employer, I was the first
person to join the team and now it grew up to a 13 member team. I recruited 11 of them and we all grew up together in this
place. now the company has asked me to take more ownership and handle the team and process, i am losing grip on the team.
None of them gives a hear to what i say. no matter what i say they revolt. they just wanna have fun and dont want me to
stop them from loitering around and gossiping. There are many typical gossip stars both women and men who have no other
work. Mine is not a department with lot of work. our time is 9.15am to 6.15pm. almost by noon most of them are out of
work and start their routine typical charactertics.internal messenger, going to another desk and chatting, inviting pthers
to work stations and chatting, laughing, facebook, twitter and so on. When ever i tell to control they just revolt and
stay witout talking to me and show no courtesy at all. they cannot accept change and just wanna chill always. I have lsot
grip on all of them and now feel that i cant do anything in here. lost all hopes, scared of women now, turning out to be
useless now. inspite of complaning to the management and hr they just have to say that people in this team are very
sensitive and has to be handled very carefully.i dont know i can neither bear the managements rubbish and ignorance nor the
teams senselessness.

By: soku

soku — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:29:57 +0000

I became good friends with my team and now they cant actually accept me. In between i messed up with my relations at office
and spoiled credibility. I too had lots of fun and all of a sudden they cant afford to be controlled and dont wanna see me
in here. days with no hello and bye is getting miserable. people from the age group 21 – 32 are with me and i just 28.
the oldies in the team are the big time mess! they trigger the younger ones and make their minds corrupted to display
the worst of human characters. i wonder how ppl can be like this. trust me i lost all happiness and peace at work like the
way it used to be some time back. i came to this new employer with lots of hopes and don’t see any support from them too.
i have a platform to grow but no training, no knowledge nothing.. i have no clue as to how i should lead or do things
to meet the desires of this management. the management is always behind money and money. they are least bothered about
the mess the people in my team make. they just wanna buy dollars for each head over here and thus don’t wanna move the
rotten apples off. i myself have become one now being with them.