Frances Horibe's

Leaving a Bad Job In previous posts, I have been talking about challenging a bad job’s ability to sap your confidence by taking a look at the assumptions you’ve made about why you stay. In this post, I want to talk about how to start the leaving process and getting into job search for a better job. The job search tactics which usually apply, apply in this case also. Dawn Rosenberg Kay has an excellent article on how to look for a job while still employed. However, I think there are special factors in a bad situation you need to pay attention to. Job hunting when leaving a bad job I’m sure I won’t cover all of them, but here are some things you need to be particularly aware of when trying to leave a bad job.   Lack of confidence. As I’ve mentioned, the worst thing a bad job does to you is attack your self-confidence. This may come out in various ways. You may undervalue what you can do and apply for jobs for which you are overqualified. Conversely, because you have lost a reliable way to assess your skills, you may overestimate your skills. What to do:…

Bad Jobs —Reasons for Staying? 2   In the first post of this series, Why Do People Stay in Bad Jobs?,https://darksideofwork.com/index.php/2019/12/09/why-stay-bad-jobs-ee/ I asked you to identify why you are staying in a bad job. In the last post, I explored some reasons often given to continue working where you are. This post will cover more. I’m already in the best company in the industry. This can happen. When Steve Jobs was alive, Apple was considered one of the best tech companies and so worth putting up with Jobs’ mercurial temper and insane demands. But why do you think you’re in the best company in your industry? Best paid? Most prestigious? Well-known brand? Whatever it is, give a hard look whether it’s worth the price you’re paying. You might feel any other company would be a move down. So what? First, your resume will always say that you worked at the best company. It might even help you move to a lesser known company with a better environment. Best should also include best for you.   I like my colleagues. Yes, that’s wonderful. But in a toxic work setting, great colleagues often mean people who have your back, or don’t point…

Why Do People Stay in Bad Jobs? We’ve all been there. Jobs where you hate to get up in the morning, where Monday is a life sentence and Friday only a temporary reprieve. It can be bad for any number of reasons: a ruthless boss; a toxic work environment; boring assignments; or stupid company rules. The list can be endless and varied. Sapping hope But one universal affects not only your work life but also your will to take action to get out of it: a bad job saps hope. Your boss, in word and deed, communicates that you are a miserable incompetent. Much as you might refute it, the contempt has crept into your psyche and makes you half-believe that nobody else would hire you. The toxic work environment has caught you in a web of constant back watching and heading off attacks so you forget other work places can be healthier. The boring or unsatisfying work dulls you so that your best is as little as you can get away with and you have no energy to find better work. Over time, your confidence and ability to take action to get out are drained. It is the most…

How to Combine Team and Career Ambition In my post, When Not to Take One for the Team, YOU were told that you had to take one for the team by not attending a conference you really want. You might have felt that, in that post, you gave into your boss Gwen’s insistence too easily. But as I pointed out in Downsides of Refusing to Take One for the Team, you can pay a price in your career ambition for refusing to accept the decision and stubbornly sticking to your ‘right’ to go. But you might be able to get something of what you want while avoiding the negative feelings that emanate if you insist. Compromise to help your ambition Let’s return to the conversation. This is what happened when you were pushing for an all-or-nothing solution. Gwen: Still, if nobody volunteers, I think we have to go with whose work is least relevant. You: Well, I think it’s relevant but if you think that it’s right for the team… Here’s another way to take this. Gwen: Still, if nobody volunteers, I think we have to go with whose work is least relevant. You: I was wondering if we could…

Downsides of Refusing to Take One for the Team In the previous post, YOU made your case for going to an important conference but were overruled by the boss. But YOU might feel that you didn’t fight hard enough. You might be right—more argument might make a difference. However, refusing to give up could win you the battle but lose the war. Winning the battle but losing the war As I have mentioned in other posts, the pressure to get along within a team can be overwhelming. And from the manager’s or company’s point of view, that’s a good thing. A harmonious work environment is pleasant and assumed to be optimally productive. (This isn’t always true, of course—see my post Getting Along Can Do You In). But in order to create this harmony, everybody in the group has to implicitly agree not to rock the boat. Those refusing to abide by that rule (like continuing to push conference attendance) are at least frowned upon, if not actively sanctioned. “That’s not fair!” I can hear you say. “People should not be punished for sticking up for themselves.” Absolutely right. However, the desire for harmony trumps almost everything else in the work…