I have been with a company for over 10 years, The company has changed a lot since them and not necessarily for the better. I feel that most days the job sucks the life out of me, its usually a very easy job, its all the politics and the petty b.s.
Its a smaller company in a smaller city so the only people that seem to get hired under the current regime are friends and family of people there who are department heads, or employees that matter. They dont care what you know they care what you know.
It is a very technical job and I still have a lot to learn, but it is very hard grow at this place. Many of the people who work there are complete idiots. The guy who I work with 8 hours a day has been there almost 20 years. At 20 years you should be at the top of your craft or close to it. The lunkhead I work with doesn't even know many of the basics of the job. I have never worked with someone with so little ambition or initiative, his attitude is he has been there a long time so he must be doing a good job.
He actually costs the company a lot of unnecessary money with his poor decisions, complete lack of critical thinking skills and things he screws up. The guy is useless. He will never get fired at the rate the place is going. I know for a fact anywhere else in my field he would have been fired years ago. He has neither the intelligence to do the job, patience, ability, ambition or initiative to learn anything.
The problem is a new job would require moving, which I am not opposed to, but with family obligations, a house in the middle of a renovation and my health and stamina, I am reluctant to make a change. I did it 15 years ago and dived in feet first, I no longer have that fearlessness that I had then. I have ailing parents, a small child and a wife to look after and I simply dont know how in the [censored] I could move 10 hours away, It would be too much.
What if I move 500 miles away and find the new job has other issues and overall its worse.
I mean right now my job is easy. While I am not challenged very much at all, its really easy. What if I go work for a company where I am partnered with a difficult person?
I also usually work 40 hours a week at most. I have done the whole 50 plus hour weeks before and I dont want that. It can be common in my field, so I dont want to go to a new company and end up working 50 to 60 hours a week. The money would be phenomenal, but I have a family I want to spend time with.
I guarantee any company that I apply to will require a knowledge exam before they even talk to me. Most companies in my field are interested more in what you know vs. who you know.
I can make more money elsewhere, I can find easier work, but I will never find work this easy that pays what I make.
If this is a case where I should just be glad I have a decent paying job with average benefits, how can I help deal with the feeling of the life being sucked out of me?
There are many people here in this forum and I look to you folks for any knowledge or advice you may have.
Thanks
Job sucks the life out of me.
- Thread starter 5AcresAndAFool
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Keep the job. Find something meaningful outside of work.
Sounds like you are very risk averse at the present moment and you are looking for a sure thing to consider changing jobs.
Problem is that there are never sure things, the best you could get is probably to go work with somebody you know really well at a place he/she has been employed for quite some time. Things could still get worse for you even in that case, of course.
IDK, as long as you are not concerned about being replaced by a friend or family member of a department head, sounds like maybe you should stay put until moving to a new town is more palatable or an opportunity that is just so good you can't say no comes up.
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Originally Posted By: bigj_16
Keep the job. Find something meaningful outside of work.
Tough decision. If you are not able to move or find remote work you are pretty much stuck. Try not to burn any bridge at work even with the incompetent dead wood, if you play your card right they will be nice to you and ask you to cover their behind.
What kind of work do you do?
I agree with Lone ranger 100%. Your work problems are for the manager. Keep your head down and keep your eyes open for a better job in the mean time.
Originally Posted By: bigj_16
Keep the job. Find something meaningful outside of work.
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Sounds like you are very risk averse at the present moment and you are looking for a sure thing to consider changing jobs.
Problem is that there are never sure things, the best you could get is probably to go work with somebody you know really well at a place he/she has been employed for quite some time. Things could still get worse for you even in that case, of course.
IDK, as long as you are not concerned about being replaced by a friend or family member of a department head, sounds like maybe you should stay put until moving to a new town is more palatable or an opportunity that is just so good you can't say no comes up.
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Originally Posted By: bigj_16
Keep the job. Find something meaningful outside of work.
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Originally Posted By: bigj_16
Keep the job. Find something meaningful outside of work.
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Originally Posted By: bigj_16
Keep the job. Find something meaningful outside of work.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: bigj_16
Keep the job. Find something meaningful outside of work.
It's easy to be an arm chair quarterback in these situations. Even with with all the info you have shared, we still don't know all the dynamics.
Several decades ago an old timer shared some of his wisdom with me when I was struggling a bit. He told that as long as you continue to work hard to please others, you will always fall short and be frustrated. Work hard to please yourself. At the end of your shift, week, month, or year, have self respect for the good, hard, smart work that you completed with integrity and responsibility. This eliminates some of that burden you carry regarding all that is going on in your work place that bothers you: incompetence, laziness, favoritism, politics, [censored] kissing, sense of no appreciation from company,etc..
Maybe take other measures to learn how to deal with those issues that are the negative parts of your job. This might include seeing a counselor or taking a community college course to learn new methods of dealing with people and circumstances.
It seems that you are at that critical point where you know that the grass actually may not be greener in that other pasture. Ya, I guess my opinion is to try to make the current situation work before jumping ship.......if possible.
Good luck with your situation. That life-sucking affect is not good for your health.
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
It seems that you are at that critical point where you know that the grass actually may not be greener in that other pasture. Ya, I guess my opinion is to try to make the current situation work before jumping ship.......if possible.
Good luck with your situation. That life-sucking affect is not good for your health.
Just goes to show it's not what you know it's who you know.
Funny story, when this place interviewed me I had prepared by studying as much about electrical theory and the utility industry that I could.
During the interview they asked me not one question about any of that. Now I was already a Master Certified Auto Technician so I had a solid understanding of troubleshooting and electricity so maybe they figured there was no need to ask... but I though this was kinda strange. They were more concerned about my drinking habits, drug use, and if I lie to my wife, had the police out or had similar domestic episodes(!)...
Well I dont drink at all, never touched drugs and never struck my wife so I was hired...lol. Shortly after starting the job their questions made sense to me. There were some guys there with...um....issues.
This in hind site was a huge red flag! It got me into the utility industry with no college degree though so I figured I would take the job and see what happened. Its been a [censored] of a ride.
One of the things about me that is rare and a huge asset in my 24-7-365 field is the fact I dont drink. They know that I am always fit for duty. If they need to call guys in on a Friday night they know I am one of the ones that can always be depended on.
Being called in outside of my scheduled standby weeks is rare, but when there is an issue usually someone is needed NOW.
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Dude, I feel for you. I have worked dead end jobs where I tried to excel and nobody noticed or they felt threatened. In your case, you have a good paying job that is close to home and family.
Maybe if you realize there is no way to change or improve your work situation, you could cope better. Just make the best of the job, get as much training as possible, and move on some day. Think of this as a serenity prayer for lousy job.
You have options. (1)Stay where you are. (2)look for another job elsewhere while you retain your job and if something comes up that is better than your current position then take it and leave or (3) quit and look for another job. If you are going to stay, quit worrying about the aptitude of you co-workers,the politics, the [censored], how much they may make, or anything else, and just focus on doing your job. Who cares if your co-worker is a moron. Welcome to the wonderful world of working for a company. Every company has people working there like the kind you are talking about. It's always been that way and always will be that way unless you own a company and run, manage it your way and then have some say as to how thing are done. You stay you have feelings that the life is being sucked out of you and you say the work is easy, the hours are good and the pay is good and you are comfortable doing what you are doing. Stay where you are or take a chance with something different- in 20 years look back and see if you made the right decision.
I have been in your situation. I currently am in a position that I don't mind (custodian) with I company that I worked for before. There are very few good jobs in this town. Mine pays ok for what is available in this town and has really good insurance and other benefits. I'm not getting rich, but I am getting by. In my previous position here, there were a lot of politics. Still are. In my current position, I do my job and go home. Most days, I feel that I am appreciated for what I do and people leave me alone. I am not micromanaged.
Focus on doing the best job you can because you know that it is the right thing to do. Forget about if anyone else notices your efforts or not. Do not worry yourself with what others are doing. If the company is content with the job they are doing, so be it.
Change what you can change, accept what you can not. If you find that you can not accept having screw-offs for coworkers, then move on under your own terms and conditions. Do not dishonor yourself by badmouthing your company or your coworkers.
If I had learned this ten years ago, I would be better off today. My current position is not the best use of my skills and my talents. If an opportunity arises that I can better myself or my company, I will take advantage of that opportunity. The problem is, most people in power will probably see me as the person I was ten years ago, not the person who is wiser and had learned a valuable lesson in life. Until a better opportunity comes along, I choose to bloom where I am planted. I think the most valuable thing that I currently do is spread a positive attitude among the teachers and students that I work with daily. We have a poster here that says "attitude determines altitude". I have adopted that as my motto. You can not always change what happens to you in life. You can only change how you choose to respond to it (attitude).
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