I hate my job.

[Drolefille]

I kind of just need to vent, I suppose, but gods do I LOATHE my job right now.

As a background, I work with parolees. I run groups and work with them individually and although I work with men and women my personal caseload is all women right now.


The job itself isn't horrible. It's not great. I deal with a lot of liars, few pathological - although one right now who's getting under my skin, more on that later - most habitual. A lot of "I have no coping skills so I went and got high and used none of the tools that anyone has taught me." And most of the time, I can deal. I can. When they're ready, they're ready, and if they're not ready to change they'll just go back and repeat.


OK, so I work for a very large international company that runs private prisons. I hate that. Private prisons suck. But, I know that my section of the company treats our clients well and we deal with the whole post-prison side of things typically. This very large company doesn't really know what to do with us, its systems are all designed for prisons and halfway houses- locked facilities. And THEN we keep getting new things added, now instead of 1 assessment, monthly tx plans, etc. we have 4 assessments in the first month, and the monthly tx plans then FOLLOW up assesments throughout. Same caseload, same pay, much more work.

AND THEN: I have a coworker who is out sick. She's got chronic problems that have potentially developed into something worse. But since NOVEMBER I have been consistently working OT hours - and when I've had to take time off for illness or BF's Dr. appt's, I frequently end up taking no actual PTO because I've worked extra hours. Me and another case manager are covering her caseload which means additional classes to teach, clients to see, etc. Oh and all those new things are still being implemented.

There's no hope of getting more help, they might try to hire part time, but that will take a minimum of a month and that person wouldn't be trained to do anything other than sign people in. My supervisor is arguing that we're slowly being killed under the weight but higher management doesn't seem to care or their hands are tied, I don't know which. I don't think they can temp hire due to the nature of the job, but the DOC background check takes forever anyway.

It is no longer enough to know my supervisor cares and is as upset as we are. It's not enough anymore to get a $30 'incentive' gift card as thanks for the hard work. I no longer GIVE a damn. That client I mentioned earlier gets under my nerves and just makes me rage inside (funny since I teach Anger Management, funnier since my 'rage' voice is exactly the same volume as my regular voice and I apparently know how to handle my anger appropriately.) There's no reason one more "liar" should get to me. I deal with plenty of them I have a bunch of "good" clients right now too, who are doing GREAT. But I just.. can't bother to care anymore.

If I had a job offer I'd take it, no notice, no nothing. I told my supervisor that if i could afford to live without this job, I'd walk away today. BF's disability income isn't enough to support us in our current place and moving would be even harder right now.

I just want to quit so bad.

:sorry1:, for the word vomit, that needed to be out, rather than in.

I'm usually :meditate: when it comes to my job. Even rough days just roll off, or little things come up and I vent and I laugh and I'm done.

Today I'm :sad4::sad4::sad4: instead.

 

[Revoltingest]

Life is short.
Don't do something you hate.
Get out as soon as practical.

 

[Drolefille]

Life is short.
Don't do something you hate.
Get out as soon as practical.

I'm trying. Just no luck so far, and I'm the breadwinner so I'm stuck until I can find something we can live on.

 

[Revoltingest]

Opportunity will knock.
And to paraphrase Louis Pasteur, chance favors the prepared mind.
(I'm out of platitudes now.)
In the meantime, have some bacon....

 

[ScottySatan]

Words of confidence:

It is probably worse to be unemployed.

 

[Alceste]

I kind of just need to vent, I suppose, but gods do I LOATHE my job right now.

As a background, I work with parolees. I run groups and work with them individually and although I work with men and women my personal caseload is all women right now.


The job itself isn't horrible. It's not great. I deal with a lot of liars, few pathological - although one right now who's getting under my skin, more on that later - most habitual. A lot of "I have no coping skills so I went and got high and used none of the tools that anyone has taught me." And most of the time, I can deal. I can. When they're ready, they're ready, and if they're not ready to change they'll just go back and repeat.


OK, so I work for a very large international company that runs private prisons. I hate that. Private prisons suck. But, I know that my section of the company treats our clients well and we deal with the whole post-prison side of things typically. This very large company doesn't really know what to do with us, its systems are all designed for prisons and halfway houses- locked facilities. And THEN we keep getting new things added, now instead of 1 assessment, monthly tx plans, etc. we have 4 assessments in the first month, and the monthly tx plans then FOLLOW up assesments throughout. Same caseload, same pay, much more work.

AND THEN: I have a coworker who is out sick. She's got chronic problems that have potentially developed into something worse. But since NOVEMBER I have been consistently working OT hours - and when I've had to take time off for illness or BF's Dr. appt's, I frequently end up taking no actual PTO because I've worked extra hours. Me and another case manager are covering her caseload which means additional classes to teach, clients to see, etc. Oh and all those new things are still being implemented.

There's no hope of getting more help, they might try to hire part time, but that will take a minimum of a month and that person wouldn't be trained to do anything other than sign people in. My supervisor is arguing that we're slowly being killed under the weight but higher management doesn't seem to care or their hands are tied, I don't know which. I don't think they can temp hire due to the nature of the job, but the DOC background check takes forever anyway.

It is no longer enough to know my supervisor cares and is as upset as we are. It's not enough anymore to get a $30 'incentive' gift card as thanks for the hard work. I no longer GIVE a damn. That client I mentioned earlier gets under my nerves and just makes me rage inside (funny since I teach Anger Management, funnier since my 'rage' voice is exactly the same volume as my regular voice and I apparently know how to handle my anger appropriately.) There's no reason one more "liar" should get to me. I deal with plenty of them I have a bunch of "good" clients right now too, who are doing GREAT. But I just.. can't bother to care anymore.

If I had a job offer I'd take it, no notice, no nothing. I told my supervisor that if i could afford to live without this job, I'd walk away today. BF's disability income isn't enough to support us in our current place and moving would be even harder right now.

I just want to quit so bad.

:sorry1:, for the word vomit, that needed to be out, rather than in.

I'm usually :meditate: when it comes to my job. Even rough days just roll off, or little things come up and I vent and I laugh and I'm done.

Today I'm :sad4::sad4::sad4: instead.

I feel your pain - I've had so many hateful jobs! It's always so much more tempting to quit during a rough patch for ANY lateral move, but after jumping from job to job for a few years, never finding anything I could stand for more than a year - usually less - I started rethinking my whole approach and attitude to work and playing a longer game.

My advice is, the first thing to do is let go of the desire to hang onto your current lifestyle. It's a trap. See where you can downsize your expenses. Housing was usually the biggest one for me. I have learned I am happier in a tiny flat, or even my grandmother's basement, doing work I enjoy than I am living in a gorgeous home with a crappy job to pay for it.

Once you gain some breathing room in your budget, start thinking about what you really want to do, and what's actually involved in getting there. Networking, retraining, etc.

Then start moving toward your goal, at whatever pace you can manage, without necessarily quitting your job. It's easier to cope with the stress and BS when you know you're leaving anyway.

Then while all this is going on, something unexpected but interesting will inevitably pop up that you never even considered and you'll jump in with both feet.

That's what I always do.

 

[oldbadger]

.....................I LOATHE my job right now.

Hello........
You might be surprised at just how much empathy I have for your feelings.
Your description fitted a Brit contractor exactly, and it was only your mention of a $30 incentive that stopped me dead in my tracks.

Please, let me make two short suggestions.

1. Alceste has got it 'smack on'. If you can live on very little, this buys you not only the freedom to dump bad employers, but it gives you a level of integrity which folks deeply immersed in the system can find hard to grasp.

See where you can downsize your expenses. Housing was usually the biggest one for me. I have learned I am happier in a tiny flat, or even my grandmother's basement, doing work I enjoy than I am living in a gorgeous home with a crappy job to pay for it.

2. I made training films and ran training courses for all kinds of security and investigative ops, and for decades I felt very angry at how commerce and industry could push such brilliant ops until they made mistakes, and then dump and forget them. Cannon fodder for quick cash returns. Your working environment reminded me of that. Whilst you wait to find your way out, try this: Accept that employers, management teams, colleagues and customers can let you down...... expect it. Prepare for it. Accept that you can only make a tiny difference and be proud of the difference that you do make. Enjoy the mess......... in England they dredge mud from estuaries to make cosmetics, if you think about it, and transfer that concept to your own world, you might start to smile. You may wake up one morning and say ,'Isn't rolling in mud fun!'

Good luck...... you have myy empathy, absolutely!

 

[Drolefille]

I feel your pain - I've had so many hateful jobs! It's always so much more tempting to quit during a rough patch for ANY lateral move, but after jumping from job to job for a few years, never finding anything I could stand for more than a year - usually less - I started rethinking my whole approach and attitude to work and playing a longer game.

My advice is, the first thing to do is let go of the desire to hang onto your current lifestyle. It's a trap. See where you can downsize your expenses. Housing was usually the biggest one for me. I have learned I am happier in a tiny flat, or even my grandmother's basement, doing work I enjoy than I am living in a gorgeous home with a crappy job to pay for it.

I've been working here for four years, I've wanted out for a while, but only recently has the problem become THIS bad.
The moving expense is the biggest problem with downsizing right now. We'd need movers due to a lack of a van and the fact that my boyfriend cannot carry stuff. It's doable, but our biggest recreational expenses are my biggest life savers right now. If I couldn't go to our LARP weekends I'd probably just quit now. On the plus side, we're still putting money into saving

I'd live back at my parents' house if I had to, that's not a problem.

Once you gain some breathing room in your budget, start thinking about what you really want to do, and what's actually involved in getting there. Networking, retraining, etc.

Cool thing, I'm already trained. I have my MA but am NOT getting paid for it.
I just have to find the job that gets me paid for it.

Then start moving toward your goal, at whatever pace you can manage, without necessarily quitting your job. It's easier to cope with the stress and BS when you know you're leaving anyway.

This is what I'm trying to do now. I just had a breakdown last night

Then while all this is going on, something unexpected but interesting will inevitably pop up that you never even considered and you'll jump in with both feet.

That would be awesome.

That's what I always do. [/QUOTE]

Hello........
You might be surprised at just how much empathy I have for your feelings.
Your description fitted a Brit contractor exactly, and it was only your mention of a $30 incentive that stopped me dead in my tracks.

Please, let me make two short suggestions.

1. Alceste has got it 'smack on'. If you can live on very little, this buys you not only the freedom to dump bad employers, but it gives you a level of integrity which folks deeply immersed in the system can find hard to grasp.


2. I made training films and ran training courses for all kinds of security and investigative ops, and for decades I felt very angry at how commerce and industry could push such brilliant ops until they made mistakes, and then dump and forget them. Cannon fodder for quick cash returns. Your working environment reminded me of that. Whilst you wait to find your way out, try this: Accept that employers, management teams, colleagues and customers can let you down...... expect it. Prepare for it. Accept that you can only make a tiny difference and be proud of the difference that you do make. Enjoy the mess......... in England they dredge mud from estuaries to make cosmetics, if you think about it, and transfer that concept to your own world, you might start to smile. You may wake up one morning and say ,'Isn't rolling in mud fun!'

Good luck...... you have myy empathy, absolutely!

You know, normally, that's how I get through my job - I can help ONE person I've done good. The same day I had a former client try to blame me for all her problems, I also got a thank you note from a former client. Those sorts of things help immensely. It's the weight of the job expectations themselves that are getting to me.

Thanks for listening

 

[Drolefille]

Job update:
I still hate it. I'm looking, I've put in a dozen apps in the past two weeks.
I had another client die just after he left our program for rehab. Heroin OD. College age kid. I hate my job.

This week we have three full time staff out (the one on FMLA included). That leaves four of us, and only one of us - guess who - is really qualified to teach the classes. So I'm supposed to handle my case load, double the class load (and notes for each one!) work 8AM to 6:30PM all week. Because of the holiday I'll have 40 hours before Friday. (We worked about 4 hours, I'll get paid 8 for the holiday and I'll have 4.5 hours "OT" by Thursday. I won't get paid for OT mind you, because holiday hours don't count towards that. ) So now I'm going to try to take off Friday as early as humanly possible, because that's when my supervisor comes back. So me leaving will make it still only 3 people down and Fridays are the slowest days.

I hate. my. job.

I have a daily battle with the people who are really REALLY bad liars, the people who can't read a sign if its staring them in the face, and the people who I really just want to go back to prison because they aren't ready to change and it's just a matter of time before they get busted anyway. Or die. When I have an active heroin addict... I usually go straight back to their parole agent and say "Treatment, or violate them." Because if they just got out of prison and they're already back on it, they're not going to stop, and they won't get clean on their own. This kid, been out for months, just relapsed and went to treatment right away.

And it still wasn't enough. He wasn't even MY client but he was one of OUR clients. I saw him five days a week, joked around with him, knew what meds he took for his ADHD and when he was having a bad day. And he's gone. And I don't know how to deal with that.

 

[Drolefille]

My job this week: I had 40 paid hours (including some holiday) by Thursday at clock-out. I worked 3 days 8-6:30PM, I worked on Memorial Day. This week I covered 4 groups that were not mine, and three of them were today. I did treatment plans while running groups and doing drug tests and doing more treatment plans at the same time. I met with all but one of my own clients and a dozen of other peoples. I helped women deal with relationships that crossed their boundaries and I helped clients deal with their parents with cancer and their kids who were just getting to know them again.
I. am. awesome. And someone needs to hire me because I will be even more awesome at a job I love.

 

[ScuzManiac]

Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.

I'm a full-time writer and times have been tough in the past...

But money is monetary. I understand that people have to eat and pay bills...

But make ends meet for now and slowly progress towards what you truly want to do...

No matter how far fetched or "out there" it may seem.

 

[StarryNightshade]

I've recently returned to my job in retail after a sabbatical for school, and, after only two weeks, I've considered quitting.

After almost 3 years there, I've had no significant raise, no major recognition for busting my *** for a pretty lazy management team, and management is putting too much pressure on all of the sales associates.

For example, let's say someone has an 8 hour shift, the usual work day is to zone (to make the products on shelfs presentable) and to push instocks out onto the floor. Which is fine and very do-able, but this is with not enough people in the store (we are currently underemployed and most of the new people hired are only temporary); extra tasks which can easily take hours by themselves added to ones workload; being back-up for the cashiers when too many people check out; and it's expected that, in addition to a workers original tasks being completed before the end of a shift, all of the added work be 100% completed as well. Sales associates can only do so much with so little time and fellow co-workers.

Every worker has complained to HR about this (me included) and nothing has changed. I realize that a job is a job, and that it's only to make money while I'm in school, but still. I've applied to dozens of other places, but no one has ever called back for an interview.

Anyway, sorry for complaining. Are things better at your job Drole?

 

[Andras]

This is an old thread and hopefully the OP has used their dissatisfaction to move forward in their life but I see this as an opportunity to trot out my own agenda with something I said to my own children when they complained about this and that and plan to tell my grandchildren the same thing when the time is right. No matter how bad things get remember that at least you are not the guy who got his testicles bitten off by a chimpanzee

 

[ShivaFan]

I think most people who work for someone else or work for some corporation, hate their job eventually.

And most people who work for themself, come to hate themselves but not their job. Unless they can just sit around and be creative, like an artist or something.

And I think most people who do not have to work because they are rich or something, but run their own "gig" because they want to have fun or "do something", they love their job.

Personally, I just want to be super rich and do things beneficial but not worry about a paycheck.

 

[Drolefille]

This is an old thread and hopefully the OP has used their dissatisfaction to move forward in their life but I see this as an opportunity to trot out my own agenda with something I said to my own children when they complained about this and that and plan to tell my grandchildren the same thing when the time is right. No matter how bad things get remember that at least you are not the guy who got his testicles bitten off by a chimpanzee

Sadly no, 3 months old isn't a very old thread.

I've recently returned to my job in retail after a sabbatical for school, and, after only two weeks, I've considered quitting.

After almost 3 years there, I've had no significant raise, no major recognition for busting my *** for a pretty lazy management team, and management is putting too much pressure on all of the sales associates.

For example, let's say someone has an 8 hour shift, the usual work day is to zone (to make the products on shelfs presentable) and to push instocks out onto the floor. Which is fine and very do-able, but this is with not enough people in the store (we are currently underemployed and most of the new people hired are only temporary); extra tasks which can easily take hours by themselves added to ones workload; being back-up for the cashiers when too many people check out; and it's expected that, in addition to a workers original tasks being completed before the end of a shift, all of the added work be 100% completed as well. Sales associates can only do so much with so little time and fellow co-workers.

Every worker has complained to HR about this (me included) and nothing has changed. I realize that a job is a job, and that it's only to make money while I'm in school, but still. I've applied to dozens of other places, but no one has ever called back for an interview.

Anyway, sorry for complaining. Are things better at your job Drole?

Retail sucks. It really does, it's thankless and doesn't have enough benefits.

And no, not really. I'm still looking for different work, because I can't personally deal with quitting a job before finding a new one. And this week I have two coworkers who decided to take week long vacations at the same time. Yay guess who's screwed again.

I'll just keep running away on the weekends to my fantasy worlds.

 

[Wirey]

You think you have it bad? When the butler brought my caviar earlier, it was disgusting! I threw my champagne right in his face!

A bad job is like a bad car. Get rid of it and get on. Find something else and move.

 

[Drolefille]

You think you have it bad? When the butler brought my caviar earlier, it was disgusting! I threw my champagne right in his face!

A bad job is like a bad car. Get rid of it and get on. Find something else and move.

Trying Last interview I got great feedback but told that "my boss went with something... else." My guesses were a) someone right out of school, b) someone in marketing/communications (it was an admissions job) or c) someone she knew.

On the upside, at the job I hate my office got recognized for being one of the best nationally and so I got a large Visa gift card. So that's nice.