TheBanyanTree: I Hate My Job!

[Margaret R. Kramer]

These are the reasons I hate my job:

1.	My 32 mile just to get there and 32 mile just to get home commute.
2.	Our warehouse office in the cornfield is very cold.
3.	Our big boss is an ass.
4.	If we sit by a window and the sun is blaring in, we can’t shut our
blinds, because everyone’s blinds have to be the same; open and at the same
level.
5.	We can’t use the front door.  Only our non-existent clients can use the
front door.
6.	We can only wear jeans on Fridays.  We can’t wear jeans on “fake Fridays”
like Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.
7.	Our trash is only emptied every other day to save money.
8.	They took away our company holidays for 2004, the day after New Year’s
and the day after Thanksgiving, because their other offices don’t have
electronic transfer of client funds, and the CEO doesn’t millions of dollars
sitting around on people’s desks and not in the bank.  This indicates to me
they have a major cash flow problem.  They replaced these traditional days
off with two personal days.
9.	We have to sell our blood to get supplies like pencils, folders, pens,
envelopes, etc.  But some of us just buy our own.
10.	They’ve delayed programming the specs on a crucial state report, which
pays this particular state money.  Again, I think that decision was a cash
flow related call by the CEO.
11.	They do not pay clients refunds unless they ask for them.  Most clients
don’t understand their finances, so they don’t ask.  We get to keep the
money!
12.	My boss is an alcoholic.
13.	My coworkers are alcoholics.  Together, they form a little drinking club
that exudes negative energy.
14.	We’ve lost 23 clients effective 1/1/04.  We now have 85 clients.  Five
years ago we had 450 clients.  We only got 5 new clients effective 1/1/04.
This is usually our busiest time of year.  Overall, our company lost a
40,000 life client, which is huge for them.
15.	We have too many people with nothing to do.  But management lies about
the numbers to “save our jobs.”  Excuse me, but they’re really saving their
own jobs.  Without us, who would they manage?
16.	Because people have nothing to do, they begin to watch other people.
When do they come in?  When do they leave?  How many cigarette breaks do
they take?  Are they surfing the internet instead of working?  How long is
their lunch?  Who do they talk to?
17.	It’s like working in prison.  We sit in our little Dilbert cubes
pretending to be busy.
18.	My coworker and I, who like to get to work early and leave work early,
are forced now to stay until 4 pm, because our alcoholic boss is very
vindictive.  He decreed these new hours as a way of getting back at my
coworker for reporting him to HIS boss.
19.	We get virtually no raises.
20.	My coworker left two months ago and she can still get into her email.
What kind of security is that?

I make a decent salary and I was hoping I could stay until I get laid off.
But I’ve been waiting to be laid off for almost 10 years and I finally have
to admit that it’s not going happen.  I’ve used every excuse to stay.  But
it’s time to go.

I tried to make a job change a few years ago, but it fizzled, mainly because
I wanted to get out of the industry and transfer my skills to something
else.  It didn’t work, because I can’t take a HUGE pay cut.

This time, I’m going to stay within the industry.  I looked in the phone
book and made a list of companies I could work for (and they’re not 32 miles
away).  I went on the web and pulled out jobs I could do.  Today or
tomorrow, I’ll revamp my resume to fit the jobs, so I can be picked up on
the key words scans.  I’ll keep a database of where I applied, what I
applied for, and any kind of correspondence I receive, so I can keep track
of names and contacts.  I have a few people I can network with, and I’ve
already been in contact with them.

I keep telling myself that this is a journey.  I might not get anything
right away, so I have to keep sucking it up at my job, try not to get angry
and do something stupid.  Looking for a job is like having another full-time
job, but in spite of the time commitment, I have to do it.

Otherwise I’m going to go insane . . .

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the
other.
~Author Unknown