Have you ever had a job you hated?

[susans]

Have you ever had a job you hated?  The one you just couldn't stand waking up and going to each day?

(My personal experience) Yes I did, thank god it was only a temp job but the supervisor was just a mean person who never smiled and was just a unhappy individual thats negative mood contaminated the office.   I worked there for 4 weeks and was SO glad when that assignment ended.  It is funny though, the next assignment I had, lead to a perm position in the best company I worked for (besides DeskDemon!!) well the best part of my admin career!!  

[kriysta]

The job I hated the most was also the job I loved the most.   I had the best job for the best person.  He retired, the company became less "people" oriented, and the same position 8 years later became the worst job I ever had.    Maybe I was a bit burnt out as well as I didn't  click with the new boss, but the job was never the same.  Since then I have moved on and I am back to being content.  I don't think I will ever find as good as boss as I had at that company.

It was a horrible time when I hated my job.  I went from a perfect attendance work schedule to calling in sick days when I just didn't feel like dealing with the issues.   I think people need to experience a job they hate to appreciate a job they can love.

[laurafmcdermott]

I had a job I absolutely hated, it was not an admin job but a call center representative.  I felt sick every day that I had to work and had to really force myself to go.  I lasted 6 months and just had to move on.  I'm not cut out for getting sworn at on a daily basis--it gave me a whole new appreciation for the customer service people I call!

[gee4]

Several............where do you want me to start?

Let's just say I hope the worst is behind me and I have learnt some things over the years.  People still get intimated by good IT skills and common sense - ever temped and had someone give you a funny look when asked, can you use Outlook/Word/Excel?  I mean I ask you!

So I won't bore you all but suffice to say I've had my fair share, from sleezy men to those with BO - yes!

[ozbound]

Yes - my first "real" job I worked for a couple of weeks in the local newspaper packaging department. It was graveyard shift, lifting and jogging bales of newspapers, and they had a strict schedule (you'd get marked down for being 1 minute late!) which I hated. I was SO glad to leave that job for a beautiful environmental foundation office!

[jennika]

This was my very very first job when I was a teenager.  Does anyone remember Fotomat? Little photo booths in parking lots of stores?   I had to sit in this little booth for 4 to 6 hours a day, got robbed by gun point on more then one occasion and there was no bathroom!  Where I was at, there were no "nice" establishments that would let me use the bathroom, I had to cross my legs a lot and just put up with dirty looks from the pizza place owner for the times I just couldn't wait until I got home.  I think all the Fotomats were replaced with expresso booths.  I wonder if they have the same problem?

[gee4]

Wow Jennika, that has to be against the law now?  Poor you!

[msmarieh]

I absolutely have had them, though fortunately not many. My last job was certainly one, even though in many respects it was a dream job. By the end I hated the thought of having to go to that job every day and it affected my work on the job - I didn't want to do the work I was responsible for. I know I didn't do anywhere near as good a job as I normally do, because my attitude had been so negatively impacted.

Marie

[spitfire78]

Wow - I remember Fotomat!  Never thought about how aweful it was for the people who worked there, though.

My first full-time job out of high school was a doozy.  I worked in a nursing home.  Loved the residents - hated the boss, who was a power-hungry, stab-anybody-in-the-back type.  They piled on tons of work and responsibility for $.10/hour more than minimum wage.  Among other things, I was responsible for receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks and cash each month and transporting them to another location in the city.  I saw illegal and unethical practices and was asked to participate in one of them, which I refused to do.On my first day on the job, my boss said, "well, let's see how long you last."  I started looking for a new job almost immediately, but it was a year before I found one.  

At my current company, I went through a spell of hating not the job per se but my coworker.  I was doing the same job I had done for about 13 years and absolutely loved.  But my coworker made me despise coming to work every day.  In the year I worked with her I gained so much weight because all I did was go to work and then go home and sit on the couch and eat.  I realize now I was actually in a clinical depression.  Fortunately, on the very day I made up my mind as I was driving to work that I just couldn't do it any more and would have to look for another job, I found out that they were moving her - whew.  I totally understand that horrible dread that makes it difficult to get out of bed in the morning and come to work.

I sincerely hope no one here is currently in that situation.  If so, please find a way out of it soon - it does affect your physical, mental, and emotional health.

[glow8490]

What a timely question! The job I currently have now has gone from the job I love to the job I hate. I used to say a little prayer every day because I was so thankful for my job until 4 years ago.  Definitely "boss-related".

I have worked for several different presidents at this company and this latest one is a piece of work. I have to make a decision if I can wait him out or move on. I'm well established here after 10 years with benefits, vacation, almost vested for pension, etc. and I have a feeling this job for him is just a stepping stone for him to move on to bigger and better things. Nearly every week someone at the office asks me how I can handle working for him (these are my peers and superiors). I just hate to think about quitting since it could be good here again someday.

In my career, I've rarely been out sick - maybe 1-2 sick days a year. In the past 4 years since working for this boss, I've had 2 major surgeries, I now take an anti-anxiety medication and  high blood pressure medication. Oh--I've gained about 20-25 pounds, too. Somehow I see a connection to my job in all this since my personal life hasn't changed much at all.

Any advice?

[dettu]

I have had several jobs I hated, usually because my supervisor was a terrible manager or otherwise difficult to work with and for. Fortunately, my current job isn't like that at all!

[Atlanta Z3]

Oh my gosh yes - I was the executive assistant to a female president of a credit union.  She was in her mid 50's and Hormonal (please note the capital).  We had a turn over rate of over 40% for approximately 25 employees.  She could cry and scream in the same five minute period, demanding, and make requests that were not professional. I've blocked out the worst of it.  I lasted 18 months and the Board of Directors came in and asked her to resign.  I had to go to the basement to do the Snoopy Happy Dance to get the big grin off my face to be able to face the rest of the employees and board members.  That didn't really help me though - it took the board nine months to find a replacement, the interium candidate who looked most promising demanded his management team all have bachelors.  (Guess who doesn't have a degree?  I thought this unfair since I have been performing "satisfactorily" for the last year and half.)  So I left, and the same week the interium candidate took a job at a Miami credit union.
Circle of Life - I LOVE my current job, have great bosses, benefits and enjoy the work.  It's not work if you like the job.  I think we all have to pay our dues to appreciate when we do find the perfect fit job.  I also think we have to be able to accept that change is going to happen and prepare for it.

[rondort]

I had a job I hated, but when my boss left I was able to build a great working partnership with the new manager.   I know because my boss was so unhappy, it seeped to me and made me unhappy.   The tone around you can totally affect everyone.  I am happy to say an upbeat and just really nice person took his place and the job became one of the best I had.  I left to find a better paying job and miss how that job turned out.  

[ecogirl]

It is exactly one year since I left I a job I hated and that made me ill.  I used to spend Sunday nights in the bathroom at the thought of going into work next day and would sometimes throw up on the way to work.  Last summer there were times I would rather have driven my car into a brick wall than go into the office.  Finally one Monday morning last September I was driving to work and just couldn't face it any more.  I drove to my doctors instead and sat in the car park until she could see me.  I ended up  being signed off for 6 weeks and then returned part-time but handed in my notice almost straight away when I realised that even with the intervention of occupational health nothing was going to change.  Putting up with a job like that just isn't worth it, it affects every part of your life and relationships.

caroleanne

[geminigirl]

Wow!  This topic has really struck a nerve!

I’ve had two jobs I’ve really really disliked to the extent that I left both of them without a position to move on to…

The first one was about 6 or so years ago.  I was the first administrative person in the company to be hired for their administrative skills – the others had come on as temps and ended up personally because the then head of the company thought they would make a good fit as X position and Y position and they really really resented me for it, and made my life hell through little digs and not being invited to lunch with all the other support staff, and – and – and – you know how it goes.

The final straw at that one was when I wasn’t given a pay rise as my job wasn’t seen as “essential” – although the two receptionists who reported to me were given 13% and 10% pay rises and I used to have to cover them for lunch & holidays.  Two weeks after I handed my notice in – to temp as I had no job to go to – so I was still working my notice, they made a number of people redundant and gave all a really good compensatory package.  I learned that my job would’ve been one of them to go so, when he accepted my notice, the MD knew that they’d wriggled out of paying me off.  But I was so glad to leave …

I temped for a while and then got the next job I hated.  On paper, absolutely brilliant, working at CEO / board level for people that were highly respected as both individuals and by City of London financiers.  But I was so utterly bored and had nothing to do.  I would spend my time finding ways to be useful and keep myself occupied otherwise I could’ve run amok with an axe!!  The worst thing was knowing that my bosses knew I didn’t have enough to do and didn’t care, as long as they weren’t bothered and I was there for them when they did need attention.  Handed in my notice there partly because of boredom and partly because of executive-level changes that were happening which would have an negative impact on me.

And a week before I was due to leave there, I was offered my current position and, 19 months in, it really is the best job I’ve ever had.  Great boss, great benefits, and a really good bunch of people.