Working for the (Wo)Man.

Many people will cringe when I say this, but I have put my two weeks in at work after working for my company for only nine months. I heard you gasp, and say I am crazy for not holding out for at least a year, but from the cards I was dealt here, I have every reason to want to go. Sometimes, a company fires an employee because they aren't working out. In this case I fired the company.

 

When I went on my final interview with the people who subsequently hired me, I had the wool pulled over my eyes. They gave me ideas of grandeur. I would be making all kinds of money, I would grow with the company, and I would have the freedom to create the position they put me in. It all sounds wonderful. I signed up right then and there.

I was fresh out of college by a few months, and had thought to myself how great this was that I got a salaried position with eight paid holidays and extensive vacation time. I was so wrong. At first, the employers made me think that they had all their ducks in a row, and they knew what they were doing, but when I got my first paycheck I saw a red flag. What they had quoted me was not what they gave me. I was initially really upset, but decided to give this place a shot because they said they were doing big things and growing rapidly.

After about three months, I began to develop the bad habit of coming into work 20 to 30 minutes late. My boss was barely ever at work, and when she did come in it wasn't until around 3. On occasion when she was in, and I could ask for her advice on how to deal with a customer or if I needed her authority on taking care of a customers bill, but all she would do is lead me in a circle back to where I started. Quickly, I began to realize that this woman has no idea what she's doing.

Eventually, I just to matters into my own hands, and gave people tons of discounts on things in order to work a deal with them to get them as my customer. Still, there were things I needed from her that she was not willing to give. She wouldn't come into work for weeks at a time, and at one point didn't come in to work for an entire month. She was never there to help me or guide me or give me permission on things I needed her blessing on. I went from working like a mad man, to eventually having nothing to do because everything needed her approval, it all wound up in limbo. It took me five months to just get business cards that took someone else maybe five minutes to do. It began to take it's toll on me.

I like working, and I like feeling valued. I was barely working because nothing would get approved, and I absolutely was not valued. I got our customer base up by at least 65% since the year before, and I was told I would receive commission, I never saw a dime. Instead she brought me flowers. Flowers don't pay my student loans. Then, little by little, others came through the woodwork and said to me that they agree with everything I think. I think my boss is incompetent, unintelligent, and totally incapable of fulfilling her duties. To top it all off, she went ahead and stole five pieces of work I did, and claimed them as her own. Never once mentioned my name in having anything to do with it.

 

Now, I know you're saying, "Well, at least it's a job and you're getting paid." That's true! I have a job and I was getting paid. I also knew that I was worth more professionally and financially. I began looking for jobs. My mother told me to stick with where I was because I didn't give it enough of a chance. Unfortunately, when people who have been with the company for years tell you to get out while you can because it's a unhealthy culture and environment, and you feel that way as well, it's time to go.

It didn't take long before I went on interviews and was offered a position with a new place. I made sure that this time around I interviewed the company as well, and got an offer letter with everything we discussed in place. They asked me if my boss would counter offer, I said no, and what I didn't tell them is that it would be a no because she wouldn't know how.

The day came for me to put my two weeks in, and sure enough I wasn't counter offered, and they said they were sad I was leaving, but clearly they never appreciated me. Now that I have made my move, and I have made the best decision for myself, and the most healthy decision, I couldn't be happier. This place was more of a job, not a career.

 

If you find yourself in the same shoes I was in, you feel your work environment and culture isn't a healthy one, and does not grow you professionally, financially or personally, it's not you it's them. It is perfectly fine if you go somewhere and it just doesn't work out. Obviously, don't make a habit of leaving jobs because things don't go well after a few months, but really pay attention and assess your situation. Pay attention to what people who have been there for years have to say about the management you are working for. Whether they work for them directly or work in the same company. It is perfectly fine to leave when there is no benefit for you in any professional, financial, or personal way. If it is okay for a company to let a person go because they don't benefit the company, it is perfectly fine for you to leave a company because they do not benefit you.


 - Julie Catherine.