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New jobs not quite what i was sold....
I know things take time to settle in but I'm currently repenting at my leisure. Think ive been sold a pup.
I'm not regreting leaving my last job as that had run its course. But a bit miffed I've wound up here!
Still what is done is done
Still what is done is done
But can be undone if needs be. If you hate it, start looking for a new one.
I am.
Just disappointed in my own judgement
Yup. I ended up staying 15 years 😅
I got 2 weeks in and realised it was nonsense. Spent 2 months trying to fix it but it was pushing water uphill so pulled stops and was out and back in my old job by 3 months
I lasted 6 weeks in one job, then walked out.
I took a job, realised it wasn’t for me after 3 weeks but my contract said 3 month notice period for me and a week for them during probation. Got it down to about 6 weeks but was on my notice period longer than under my own free will!!!
Yes, started at a new job that sounded awesome, got shipped one of their products to develop on and it was such an aweful experience trying to get it running told my partner I had made a terrible mistake and started looking for something new. I was there a total of 4 months but most of that was job hunting!
Oh and in that job I was in 6 weeks, someone else had started just before me, who I was working with, and they walked out just before I did !
COVID Testing. GOOD money and when we started we spent at least half our 13hr shift sitting outside in the sun and drinking free tea, coffee and soft drinks as we had no clients. Hot food delivered on a regular basis too.
One lad turned up. Did the first short briefing, was shown the job and went for his first break after 45 minutes. turned to fellow new recruit and said "Not for me, I'm off."
Yep. About 15 or so years ago I moved to a big national co. After 2-3 months I thought I was in the wrong place. Role not as advertised or discussed. Control over key aspects sat in other departments (and an empire building attitude in those - despite not having the skills in those depts to do what was needed. And irrational knee jerk psychos in senior positions making dumb-ass decisions. After a few more months I was certain - especially when I got drawn into a project (for a single day meeting only !) where those managing it had the square root of fheckall idea what they were doing technically - in the area of my expertise). And for about the only week's worth of work I did that I thought was actually useful, I got told I shouldn't have been doing it.
I got out to a company / role on less ££, fewer holidays, no bonus scheme, and more responsibilities. Not one day do I regret getting out since.
I took a job, realised it wasn’t for me after 3 weeks but my contract said 3 month notice period for me and a week for them during probation. Got it down to about 6 weeks but was on my notice period longer than under my own free will!!!
Lolwut?
More fool you, what were the possibly going to say that a 3 week long job on your CV didn't?
Started a job, thought the team dynamic was all weird, realised one of the people I managed had a) gone for my role b) had complained about me and c) was shagging my boss. Director did an enquiry on her complaint, ended up firing them both. Never looked back.
Yep member of my dept is moving on after 5weeks. But to be honest I'm not sure what they expected. It'll be the same in next job exactly same position and contract in an different establishment. Youngster finding out that 50mins commute ain't fun. After what was promised and not delivered in interview I'm not overly bothered.
I once had a contractor report for duty on the first day of a six month contract [9 am on a Monday morning]
I was ostensibly managing him but I had no say in hiring him.
Anyway, when I discussed the team structure, the type of work and some expectations about time recording, he decided it wasn't for him and he had left by 11 am!
My boss at the time had some choice words and there then followed a angry phone call to the recruitment company we used...
But, I'd rather not have to deal with someone who doesn't want to be there and, frankly, lack of resources wasn't my problem anyway so I wasn't unhappy he left.
Conversely, I've been in my current job (a completely different job to that above) for over 16 years now and felt from the outset that the job was no more than "ok" and that I should pull my finger out and find a better job, but I never have done. I'm now just riding this job out until I retire...
(I'm never been particularly career-driven and have just plodded along without any great life plan 🤷)
Hard luck Duncan. I'm sure you'll get something else lined up quickly.
Early on in what I laughably call a career I was fed up with a 1 hour commute so I got a job with a more local company. Within a couple of weeks I was job hunting, but I was rather more cautious this time so it was 18 months before I actually moved on. I learned that there are more important things to worry about than the length of the commute.
In my last job, had a new recruit who went out at their first lunch break and never returned.
In my previous at the time temporary job to that, told my boss that I was planning on leaving he said he didn't like having a pistol held against his head, I had to explain I was leaving not opening a negotiation...
Yes. Currys when I was about 23. Was promised every other weekend off. Turned out to be 6 day weeks and no weekends off. Everyone at the store was OBSESSED with their job which I just found wierd. I left after 6 weeks and the manager wondered why.
I once recruited a guy who handed in his notice on the 3rd day. He'd been used to working in the city centre and just couldn't hack being in an industrial estate. His previous employers took him back on.
Anyone taken a job and 2mths in gone WtF is this madness?
I misread this to be a nefarious practice I recently learned about:
"Anyone taken a job and 2mths it's gone WtF is this madness?"
Some companies have a constant need for new and replacement staff of a certain profession, but they can't be sure what role or skills, and business is up and down, so they hire all the time. If they don't find a long term use for you in a few months, you don't pass probation and are let go. Dirty move especially if it's not made clear up front, say for people leaving secure jobs for it.
Work in IT (surprise!). Day 1 in a new job, replacing a guy who had already left. Arrived onsite, no HR welcome, no onboarding, no handover.Escorted to the data centre and was asked to start by upgrading all the network switches and telecoms servers in advance of a change that had been agreed for the following day. Lasted 12 months, mainly through stubborn pride, before calling my old boss to ask for a job.
Royal Mail postie. Handed my notice in after three weeks when I realised what a dysfunctional workplace it was. Two weeks into my four week notice I was offered a better rota so decided to give it a bit longer...then Covid hit, and I was trapped for another 18 months until the job market started opening up again! Managed three days of my second period of notice before telling the manager to get ****ed and walking out...
Had an agency worker quit inside an hour.
To be fair, her skillset/experience was not what we asked for, the agency had ****ed up.
She just came up and said she couldn’t do tne job and she thought she'd better leave rather than waste our time and hers.
Quite admired her for that.
Yeah, after 2-3 months had not seen my boss, not sat with any of the team I worked with (except one weird young fella who did f-all). Mostly given the work I didn't like while the good stuff was done by others in a different area.
8 years later, still there... love it.
Yep, didn't get a new offer in writing until the day after my notice jumped to 3 months, so I ended up there for 6 months. No regrets though, getting out was the right decision.
Yes. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with thre employers. ( for their sector) but that I was a square peg in a round hole and the skills I was gathering were for a career path that obviously was not for me. I did 18 months in the end but I knew well before that.
Started and for various reason was goldenballs, very matey with the owner/director.
We had a tech issue on a project which a previous employee has developed before he was made redundant, he was brought back, apologies all round. Promotion, upgraded company car, fancy new office etc etc.
"As soon as he un**** that he's gone again"
And tbf, he was.
I stuck it out a few more months and decided I couldn't work for somebody who did that.
Yup. Graduate training scheme. It felt wrong in the first month and I was out of there four months into a two year scheme. I even placed the golden handshake into savings so I could pay it back when I left the scheme early as per the TnCs. Gut feelings should be followed.
feel like Erik ten Hag should be in here😂
Yep, couple of weeks into my current job. The problem was I was drip fed the tasks and became more aware of the way things are done over a few weeks.
I was assured at interview that they acknowledged there were better ways of doing things and were prepared to change. Told lots of other things that turned out to be BS.
I wasn’t allowed to even change the shading of 2 cells in an excel spreadsheet! Culture of fear.
Locked into a 3 month notice period I gave in my notice and finish in 2 weeks. So glad I’m leaving.
Will probably go temping for a while
Yep, about 15 years ago and still working there!
I'm a contractor I've been through this a few times 🤣
The longer in the tooth I get though, the less picky I've become.
Same car crash different victims is a phrase that gets used quite a lot.
She just came up and said she couldn’t do tne job and she thought she’d better leave rather than waste our time and hers.
Quite admired her for that.
Very admirable. Too bad Liz Truss didn't have that level of self-awareness...
I once left a job then got another one, after that I stayed a bit then got another job which I only started after I left the previous one.
Yep, lasted 3 weeks. I'd had a couple of months off after getting married so figured it was worth doing an interview at least. They seemed good, talked up the big projects they had that fitted my CV, but was actually pressed straight into doing basic IT MSP grunt work. Actual office (not the bit I'd interviewed in) was awful, desks barely wider than a laptop. Twice in that time was asked to attend a team meeting at 8pm - couldn't happen in the day as "everyone is too busy", and both times I politely declined as I had other plans.
Had the "we don't think this is working out" meeting one afternoon, I wholeheartedly agreed, grabbed my bag and left. They paid an extra 4 weeks notice, and I got the interview a couple of days later at the company I've been at for more than a decade now.
A few times now.
First was when I went to work for Barclays on the counter. Was sold to me as a non-sales role and more focussed on customer service but by the time I'd done 5 hours of the induction training I got to the sales part and instantly knew I'd made a mistake. Unfortunately I was in a bit of a financial hole so had no choice but to stick it out for a while. Was there 3 1/2 years before I agreed with the manager to mutually leave without anything to go to. Thankfully worked out as a chance chat with our Cash Delivery Driver the day it was official I was leaving (negotiated an longer notice period so as to cover holidays) got me a new job two weeks after I left, a job I did for over 12 years and loved. Only lost it down to the pandemic, still miss it now.
My first job after passing my HGV test, working for Palletways via agency. Was told as soon as I arrived that as long as I didn't smash the truck up there was a guaranteed job there for me at the end of the day. Got through the first 2 hours before the crap of managers chasing you up, the complete lack of planning on the runs and no consideration given to the customers you were delivering to meant I knew it wasn't for me. Got back to the yard for the manager to ask if I was staying as the job was mine if I wanted it and gave him the full truth about why I wouldn't be back the next day and he genuinely was shocked.
My second job on agency was another one where I was guaranteed a job if I just behaved, working for Bidfood. Lasted a week before I knew I wasn't staying but they were paying £19/hr for the first 12 weeks and buddying you up with a regular driver the whole of that time as an incentive to get drivers (£1k a week!) so stuck it out for another 2 weeks before having enough of the chaos in the mornings, the unachievable routes and the general state of the place. Even the transport manager tried to get me to stay saying I could have the prison runs (easy work but long days) as I had an SIA license from my old job, but that wasn't enough to make up for the other stuff that screamed at me to get out. This is another time where I left a crap job and ended up at a job I eventually ended up loving (I say eventually as I couldn't take it when first offered but circumstances changed a few months later so asked them if it was still available and got it) but guttingly had to give it up a few weeks ago due to rental costs and the massive commute.
I just don't think I'm ever destined to keep a job I like!
Yeah, once. It was using Illustrator creating graphics for printing on cardboard boxes, for things like TV’s, etc, for a large packaging company. The way the graphics were scaled up from the original artwork was completely different to anything I’d done before and I was struggling, the people who ran the office, (we were working for a different company with an on-site office), were complete assholes, they’d hold back jobs deliberately then send them across with a couple of hours to do a three hour job. One of the other guys, who had lots of experience signed off work for two weeks a week after I started with stress.
I made it clear I couldn’t do the job, and after a month or so just worked through the rest of the probation period at the main office and left. When someone with lots of experience in the type of work is taking time off because of workplace stress, it’s pretty clear the place is deeply and institutionally toxic.
Not really madness, just crap. Was waiting for a job I wanted (insider knowledge that it was perfect for me but admin problems meant they were slow to recruit) so I took something else which could have been ok but turned out to be rubbish with a poor boss.
lasted about 5mo in all, the good job turned up eventually, I got it and moved as quick as possible.
the good job wasn’t all that either but it set me off on the right track for my career. Did 5y before heading off for pastures new. Actually the job there wasn’t the problem, it was more the future of the company that scared me off.
Yes. Sounds like it is time to move on. Good luck.
Back in the 90s I got a post in a large teaching hospital.
Should have realized the not-good-fit on arrival.
Every month I stayed made me more unhappy to the point where about 18 months in I did not want to get up on a morning.
Was eventually saved by a chance meeting with a former colleague who introduced me to another option.
Yes OP i am in that position at the moment. Started at the beginning of June and by mid July I realised I had made a huge mistake. I am the fifth person in the role in three years! The issues were hinted at during interview but the sheer scale of the toxicity was hidden.
I intend to get out as soon as I can OP. No job is worth destroying your mental health for.
Yes, took it as a stop gap measure, knew it was going to be a disaster before we even had the interview. But a) needed the money, sort of and b) needed something to do.
Realised within about 48 hours that the problems that the general public were aware of was probably 5% of what was actually going on and those within the industry (me included) could only see about 25% of them. Suppliers needing payment in cash before unloading parts was one of the minor issues...
Started looking for a new role about 3 days in. Eventually got headhunted to the company i'm in now (but had three or four internal moves since).
The original company went under about 3 years later, after taking millions in bail outs and then had the longest and most embarrassing death of any company i've ever seen.
My ex did the same with another place. Took a role as a senior software developer, should have been tech lead for a group of 6-8 devs. Got there for her first day to find out that she would basically be doing software documentation and release sync, no dev stuff at all, no lead role.
We then had the busiest week of job hunting we'd ever done, had a new role/company and job offer within 72 hours. Before she had the opportunity to hand her notice in, the company announced that all contractors would be leaving next friday and about 15% of the staff would be made redundant over the next 3 months. So handing her notice in was not appreciated and they made her work her notice. She's been in the current role for over a decade and is the corporate "go to" for software strategy and development...
"Better the devil you know" is a large part of why I've been with my current employer for over 25 years...
New jobs not quite what i was sold….
I know things take time to settle in but I’m currently repenting at my leisure. Think ive been sold a pup.
I’m not regreting leaving my last job as that had run its course. But a bit miffed I’ve wound up here!
Still what is done is done
Plenty of times, I'd say more often than not I've had jobs which are no where near accurate to the JD. Even my last place which I've just left, funnily enough someone in my dept had left the DWP to go work there managing a big team and profused to me many a times that the job was an absolute lemon and not what he was sold. Just heard from someone else still working there they've just completed a restructure and now hes also overseeing a team who deal with a technology that he has little to no experience in.
Once worked a place as a contractor on 6 month FTC, I quit after 3 months for numerous reasons one waas they wanted me on site 2.5hrs from where the office is located and where I lived by 8am, and I had to stay until the job was done or it hit 10pm and then drive back to the office, drop the van off and collect my car to head home and repeat the next day. This went on for about 2 months mon-thu.
The final straw was when on thursday afternoon they told me the next day I needed to be down in plymouth by 12pm (roughly 9hrs from where we were based) to survey a solar panel farm for 2hrs then drive back and make sure the van is dropped off by 9pm that evening as another contractor needed it for a job they were going to in Thurso... I made them politely aware that was physically impossible, and that I couldn't do that anyway as it was mine and my girlfriend at the time 4 year anniversary and we'd booked a night away.
I got pulled into the office with the director and threatened with insubordination misconduct and told "We just don't feel like your heart is really in it currently" to which I cant remember exactly what I responded with but it was a colourful array and I stormed out and never went back.
I didn't get paid for working outside of 8-5 either as they told me "OT doesn't apply as you're a contractor" and there was no timesheet system to use. Later found out a lot of this was illegal but I was only around 22 at the time and naive
kind of, I joined the police when I left Uni because my mate had joined when he left the year before me and was really enjoying it, and I didn't have any other plan
The time at training college was fine but being out and about on the beat made me realise very quickly that it wasn't the job for me. Looking back with almost 30 years hindsight I was just too young and naive to be able to deal with the general public, I'd do really well now but now I know it's not a job I'd want to do. I spoke to my tutor sergeant over lunch on day and we went to see the duty superintendent and I went home and never went back. Spent months finding the right job, ended up in IT and been doing that ever since
I once spent ages hunting for the perfect job, applying for different roles, going to interviews, turning some down, comfortable in the position I was in, I was happy to take as long as needed. When I arrived at my new perfect job it quickly became apparent the company owner was a control freak, and we had to document what every hour of our time was spent working on, the whole works. It wasn't a happy place.
Ended up taking a punt from there to a job I really, really wasn't sure about, which turned out to be great...
Yes, a few times. 2hrs was my record when working for a staff agency - data entry in the 80s with a particularly irritating series of keyboard strokes which made it impossible to touch type. They weren't surprised, the most persistent were lasting a few days.
In one non-temporary job I told a boss I was going there and then and he started getting all heavy about my contract and terms of employment. When he'd had his say I pointed out that I'd never been given a contract to sign.
Some periods of employment felt like an uphill struggle, dead ends, no light at the end of the tunnel; I kept moving on. Then one day when both of us had walked from jobs I had a day applying not for the sensible jobs I was most qualified to do but jobs I fancied doing. A few days later I got a phone call, a pleasant chatty bloke who had an interesting job each for us and could we be in Strasbourg on Monday. Yup!
Every job I have had. I really screwed up my career choices and have been paying for it.
I’m so glad someone else posted this and am grateful for others responses.
Started a new role 20 months ago to launch a new software product into UK - think small fish on very large pool - while the rest of the business nails the dominant product as usual. Throughout that period it turned out senior management is a bit of a mess, expectations and my sales targets were massively over promised, software roadmap is 2yrs behind the promises…. I could go on. Suffice it to say I’m a struggling and have lost the opportunity to receive any of the commission part - 50% - of my salary.
A new management structure has been put in place over the last few months and the new company direction launched internally yesterday. Admittedly it does now look like a “proper” company, with a forward direction and a recognition that “it takes time” to reinvent itself.
Our new Sales boss is a cut throat logical hard hitter and although his logical and direct style appeals to my logical an objective led nature, he’s made it clear that Not at Target is not acceptable.
So I find myself in a position to a) leave b) wait until January where at least 2 years (weeks) of redundancy pay would be due, or wait to be fired wherein I’ve got good ground I think for constructive dismissal (no support, mentoring, objectives and measures and over blown targets all despite me challenging and asking for those) and perhaps could squeeze them for a payout to leave.
In the interim it’s hard work hanging around trying to anticipate what’s coming next, feeling very much isolated, on a limb and very much a target for “streamlining the business” IMO.
🙁
So I find myself in a position to a) leave b) wait until January where at least 2 years (weeks) of redundancy pay would be due, or wait to be fired wherein I’ve got good ground I think for constructive dismissal (no support, mentoring, objectives and measures and over blown targets all despite me challenging and asking for those) and perhaps could squeeze them for a payout to leave.
Look for something else right away, if you can't get an acceptable internal move.
Grounds for constructive dismissal is a great bargaining lever, but rarely brings a worthwhile payout for the stress and hassle involved.
Between permanent roles I did a short term contract with a small company.
It was bonkers from day 1, with no chance of for filling what they were asking. (people were nice enough) I even tried to explain why things couldnt be done, and they almost agreed they couldnt. The owners of the company were in the Dubai or some where and it was almost like the UK co wanted to just say they had tried their best. Its the only time I have ever done it, but I worked the 6 month contract, producing very little apart from ticking the boxes and spent the time looking for the perm job I wanted. Helped with the CV too.
Was fed up with primary/secondary healthcare and applied for a role in one of the clinical indemnity organisations. Role looked great, but the company was busy turning itself into an insurance company and had employed a whole bunch of upper-middle managers from places like Direct Line and Admiral, and they were busy ****ing it all up. lasted 6 months before gong back to Primary care again.
Was in a great job teaching for 20 yrs, built up the faculty. good team etc. New head comes along and basically kills everything off. Her first move was to ban all offsite visits/training days for a year, a bit tricky since I was involved in the exam system and a professional association. That year the school joined an academy and she paid herself a £75k bonus from the training budget (teacher alert: check school company accounts online). Combined with the 'creative destruction' of Gove's policies the job went from ace to a dogpile in no time at all. I was out of there like greased lightning, it's one thing to work your fingers to the bone for something you believe in, it's quite another when management is poor: one is exhilarating the other is soul destroying.
Yup, would have taken me 365 days to escape it.
But these things never last, new boss 6 months in and it was a different place thankfully.
So in answer to the OP, it would seem that *everyone* has at some point got a job that wasn't what they signed up for and moved on.
I have a few, but the funniest was working for a supermarket while at uni.
I'm normally a very considerate and conscientious employee, but the lower management tier at this place were such bellends I just left at the end of a shift and never came back, didn't bother telling anyone anything.
After about 3 weeks I got an invoice for £200 for my uniform 😀
That's me, except I've been here a year now. Moved house because of new job, so location and my last year of ****wittery are making it harder to get a new one.
I think I realised that in my last job on day 1. Spent 18 months trying to make it work and it was just soul destroying. Well paid and pretty easy work but a company whose ethics I questioned myself about (despite them selling themselves as "ethical") and their whole way of working was plain weird/mental. Massively high turnover of staff who "did" stuff and a load of managers who'd been there for years in a cushy role doing seemingly fk all...
Got made redundant in 2012 from I job that I’d had for 20 years. Found another one quickly, allegedly the same role but in another industry. Turned out that my new boss was a complete control freak and I was drip fed information to get the job done but I was basically the guy’s typist. Stuck it out for 2 years, but knew pretty much straight away that it wasn’t the job for me. Mortgage and small kids etc, so I had nowhere to go.
A chance conversation brought me to where I am now. More responsibility and more stress. But I don’t hate myself for sitting there and rotting away like I did at the last place.
Have since found out that when I left the control freak took the opportunity to work from home, leaving my replacement sat there in the office with nothing to do. What a prize ****!
What's the STW opinion on just walking out of a job, and to hell with the notice period and potential for shit being thrown at you?
A friend has considered this as they have a three month notice period and their job has become fairly intolerable. They'd be looking to move to a different industry/sector anyway as their job is very niche.
sort of. 2 weeks in I realised i'd made a mistake. I interviewed for a position in Bristol at their Bristol office and moved to Fishponds from Salisbury.
1st day I was told to go to the Chippenham office temporarily. Over the 1st few weeks, whilst meeting my colleagues, people mentioned the same thing had happened to them and it wasn't temporary. I bloody hated the drive along the A420. 8 sodding years of it.
Every yearly review I told them I wanted to work at the Bristol office as it was a 5min cycle from my house, not the 50min drive. The usual reply deferring a decision followed. Eventually they let me work 2 days a week at Bristol, but started sending to various sites around the country.
In the end the Dr signed me off until I got a new job. 3months full pay on sick-leave and I never set foot in the office again. **** them.
What’s the STW opinion on just walking out of a job, and to hell with the notice period and potential for shit being thrown at you?
The last full-time job I had (ten years ago) I knew I'd made a terrible mistake within a week of being there. They'd come looking for me too and offered me what sounded like a great position. It became apparent straight away that what the marketing director I was answerable to (who was a totally mad Glaswegian psychopath!), had lined up for me was not what I'd been sold one bit, mainly due to the lucrative kickbacks from an external design agency that I was now interfering with.
I stuck it out for about a year, hating every second of it, until there was a 'straw that broke the camels back' moment. I had a months notice period and I told them they could * right off with that, I was leaving at the end of the week
On my penultimate day all the rest of the office, except me, went to an award ceremony with a free bar. The next morning I breezed into the office, happy as a seagull with a stolen chip, to something of an atmosphere (to say the least
Turns out that everyone got absolutely wasted at the free bar, then the Glaswegian psychopath had gone postal, telling everyone individually why they were a * and why if it was left up to him he'd sack them tomorrow. Apparently there was women in tears, a fight, then lots of calls to HR in the morning. As I wa sbeing told this, the Glaswegian psychopath turned up, still half pissed and a huge row broke out with people effing and jeffing and threatening allsorts
I just quietly got my stuff together and slipped out of the carnage and on a beautiful day, rode home
I don't think I've ever felt as vindicated by a decision in my life. I've been self-employed ever since, so I can just walk at a minutes notice (which I have done once, but thats another story)
The mad thing was, this was the marketing dept of a massive multinational manufacturer with a turnover in billions and not some small affair. An absolute ****ing chip shop!
Grounds for constructive dismissal is a great bargaining lever, but rarely brings a worthwhile payout for the stress and hassle involved.
I agree, it would only be worth a mention during the "I'll pay you that if you kindly piss of now" conversation.
On the plus side, I've set my stall out with polite reality this week with regard to why we are where we are with the product and what we need to do next year / for the future (this latter bit got a thumbs up from a non exec Dir.). They'll either ignore the past and let me carry on, or want to find a scapegoat. I'll wait and see what happens whilst working on a Plan B exit for Jan 1st.
I am into deep thinking for Plan B, I really want to find something that makes me happy to look forward to going to work.
What’s the STW opinion on just walking out of a job, and to hell with the notice period and potential for shit being thrown at you?
Might as well go off with stress for as long as you can convince the GP for.
My current one.
I originally applied for a lower level role, they wrote back rejecting that and suggesting I apply for the next one up. Did that, interview, phone call next day to say I was successful.
Brilliant.
Except it's not. Very silo'd working (in spite of God only knows how many initiatives and "action plans" to say that it's One Team, One Company...), some truly abysmal IT systems (does *anyone* actually know about Oracle Fusion?!) and almost no direction, delegation, tasking, etc. I can go an entire day without a single email, message, phone call coming my way. Emails that I send routinely get no (or a very late) reply. I genuinely sit there wondering what I'm doing some days.
And I know I'm not the only one.
Only once. Temping to 'fill in' after quitting a sales role. Ended up briefly working as a receptionist at a uPVC window company.
All phone calls answered and directed by me. The variety of angry customers was truly spectacular. Training was the existing lady sitting with me for half an hour giving me the rules about exactly who I couldn't put the calls through to, NO MATTER WHAT,
MD would swan in occasionally in his Ferrari.
After the first day they were keen to have me back. Apparently they'd had problems getting temps to keep going back. Getting shouted at because I put people on hold was not my idea of fun. I lasted 3 days in total and walked. Temp agency paid me double by mistake. I blanked their (increasingly desperate) calls and went back to stuffing boxes, which was vastly more fun.
One or two days in, national charity, senior team, back in London and when I could say 'career' with a more or less straight face, interviews, assessment day, etc; and the head of comms takes me aside to tell me the chief exec my line manager is a psychopath. Which she was. Hugely able, grasp of the big picture and the moving parts, charming as she wanted to be, but couldn't resist slashing the odd jugular. Reduced the HR director to a gibbering wreck to get rid of him. Walked round the office telling folks on contract for years they were no longer needed, to shock and tears. That sort of thing.
With young kids and one salary I stuck with it and she left after six months for a bigger job. My strategy was to try to channel as best I could the one guy who'd figured out how to handle her, basically by doing everything really really well, all the time. But yeah, week one I looked into getting my previous job back.
Did four years in the end before leaving for an easier job. Learned a hell of a lot in those six months though.
A friend has considered this as they have a three month notice period and their job has become fairly intolerable
It depends on their relationship with the employer TBH. If it's bad/no relationship then going on the sick is the easiest option, although bear in mind after a week they'll need a FIT note. If the relationship is OK/tolerable, then speak get them to speak with the HR manager and let them know that they want to go early, and do a deal.
Not entirely, but I work for an engineering consultant contractor so every 6-18 months I move to a new project with new client, managers, team, etc. It's a whole new job essentially.
This one was sold to me as an easy supervising role of 3 other engineers from another office where all I had to do was check and ensure consistency between them. First problem, we're a checker/supervisor down, so now it's 4 in a team and I'm doing 33% more work than I have time for.
2 are OK, but only OK. One is 20 years experienced but takes no pride in doing a good job, the other is a new grad who takes pride but makes a lot of mistakes and needs a lot of mentoring.
1 is just a bit rubbish.
1 was so bad I've spent 2 months trying to get him removed form the project and a replacement. Been told 2 weeks from the deadline that he's been removed but his replacement hasn't been lined up yet, and TBH don't consider it a big loss.
But now I'm doing at least ~200% of a checking job in terms of the hours it takes on the remaining 3. And doing the job of originating the 4ths work.
I'll quit before I agree to another role that's this under-resourced. The overtime £££ is nice, but not nice enough to make it worth the shear exhaustion of working flat out 9-10hours a day.
n.b. before someone says 9-10 hours isn't even a shift, I've done 12h shift work + overtime, it's tiring but it's not the same. Most shift jobs you can go home, switch off and tomorrow is another day with new issues. Not coming back at 8am the next day to exactly the same hell for leaher pace and task you were working on at 7pm the day before.
Another thing I'd add, is that company mergers can turn a great job and workplace sour rapidly.
My employer of 25+ years (except for the 'gap year' I described in an earlier post) sold out to a multinational. That then itself bought another multi national. We few-hundred in the Co I was in suffered an atrocious arrogant 'JFDI' reverse takeover from the new-comer org. Turned a thriving business into a loss maker in 18 months. Killed the work vibe, ethos, and any sense of belonging or worth totally. There's a few @#£#&%## who I'll be putting first against the wall and shooting come the revolution.
The best of us of course got out. A lot of despairing ex-colleugues still there, many just waiting for the axe to fall or retirement age. In some ways it did me a favour- it forced me to suss out some financial stuff and realise there was a route out for me whilst securing my pension and some other for-life benefits.