stuck in a job rut, how did others cope?

[majikcalgary]

Ok I am going to spare everyone from reading a bitch session but I will say my place of employment is unsatisfying (just trying to remain upbeat ) Admitedly, the good days do outnumber the bad but not by a very large margain. I don't know about other people but I try to take pride in my work but due to uncontrolable circumstances meaning customers are pricks, and location (a crack house in the area... how sweeeeet lol) K ma bad. No more complaining. I have been looking for other work as of late but have had little success finding something to move on to. It is my fault really.. on those bad days, I am more content staying at home much like removing myself from society. And interviews... esh. Again I am at fault.. how does one speak positively of their current workplace when they find is undesirable? I have screwed up two interviews. One I was up front and honest of how I felt and the other time, I tried lieing my way through but I guess my facial expression when asked the question gave it away. Anywho I can't be the only person to be experiencing this. Is there anyone out there who has gone/going through this and if so, how did you prepare mentally to over come the paralyzation effect of the unwanted job?

 

[LonelyGhost]

don't know what you do, so its difficult to give specific advice, but given my propensity to over-generalize here goes:

apply to U or college or trade school or whatever and when semester starts, quit current job.

leave off resume for the rest of your life ... or, if it comes up, use phrases like:

"while preparing to attend Yale, I worked at 'Shithaven Crack House' to earn tuition. I gained valuable experience in management, customer service and conflict resolution. It was a difficult and at times unpleasant situation, but I developed skills and resources to deal with these situations in a variety of contexts."

And if they start to dig for more dirt on the job, just respond with "I don't feel that it is appropriate to discuss the problems inherent in the management of the last company that I worked for ... suffice to say, I would handle things differently. " and provide some good examples.

You are in a tough situation, but never lie ... just say it is/was tough and then talk about what you learned from it.

If there was no supervision, you became self-motivated.
If your boss was a fucking idiot, you became self-educated.
If you hated your coworkers, you developed conflict resolution skills.
If your job was boring, you realized it was time for a career change.

Bottom line is that no employer will ever fault you for quitting a shitty job as long as you do something positive: go to school, get training, travel, or find a better job.

 

[pooner144]

hey majikcalgary, I feel your pain man. I'm in the exact same situation. I'm really not happy with my job and I'm looking for something else. The problem is that I haven't been here very long.... just under six months. And I do have a couple of interviews coming up this week. So I'm trying to figure out what do I tell them when they ask, why I'm looking for another postion? My interview skills have taught me to put a positive spin on things, or to be honest in such a way that won't impact your future job. If for example you're a programmer and don't like to work independently, that would be a bad thing to say.

In my situation, I'm still working on my answer. In your case it could be that you're looking for more of a challange, need something more accessible. Be realistic but creative. To put a positive spin on things you could say something like. I've found the environment to be negative. and I'd like to be where I can work as a team where people are upbeat.

Good luck, I wish you all the best in your hunt.

 

[The Lizard King]

[QUOTEI like most of my customers and most of my customers like me,][/QUOTE]
Hey wasn't that a John Candy line in Planes, Trains, & Automobiles? What do you do, sell shower curtain rings?

 

[wolverine]

Try signing up with an employment counsellor. I don't know how much it would cost, but its my understanding that they can work on your resume and coach you on how to handle interviews and to market yourself.

My advice when doing job interviews is to stay honest but positive in regard to your current employment. When asked why you want to leave, just say that you want to explore other opportunities or some other fluff like that. If you speak negatively of your current employers, they may likely figure you will carry the same attitude to their firm. Also, despite competition, people are friends and colleagues with each other within certain industries, so it's not a good idea to slam your boss at a job interview if one of your interviewers happens to be a golfing buddy of your boss.

And never burn bridges with your former and current employers. Not only do you need good references for future employment, there's always a chance that you may be working with some of the same people again.

 

[Newbee]

I had the same thing with my last full time job. I was working there for 9 years. I then told them I had to leave. I got another job, but that too was not good for me. I ended up going back to the first job after about 3 months. It was a nice break and made me appreciate the job I had. I continued working for another 2 years, and then it all came back the feeling of being stuck in a rut. No sence bringing everyone else around down with me. So I left there again, this time for good. 11 years, it was the dream job, but just not my dream anymore. I have since got a job where I travel and live away from home for months on end, I love it!!! The pay is so awsome, and just being able to get away.
I really think I made the right move, sometimes you have to take some risks and step out of that comfort zone to let yourself grow

 

[nyx]

With a thick face and a black heart...

I worked in an automaton mind and body prison for years, supervised by alcoholic junk yard dogs disguised as overgrown boys in saggy man bodies. Buzz... werk... buzzz... slurp munch smoke... buzzz more werk, and so on and so on... Everytime morning that I packed my stupid feedbag and piled into my peice of shit car for another shift I wanted to shoot myself.

Since the work required little to no thought, I used the time to plan my escape. The last thing I wanted was to go work for some other asshole with a buzzer. So I decided to start my own business: that way I could be the asshole with the buzzer!

Tap whatever resources you can and start your own business. The government has many programs out there. They just don't advertise it. You have to ask, kiss some ass, be polite and smile a lot. You have to find out which organizations in town are channelling HRDC funds and go there directly. You have to play their game and jump through their hoops, but in the end you enter into a more agreeable kind of slavery: running your own business.

It's not for everyone, though. You don't get a paycheck every two weeks on the button. Some months, you starve, some you feast. You are punished by revenue canada for stepping out of the workforce and you become accountable for everything you do. But if that doesn't sound too difficult to deal with, then running your own business may be an avenue you should explore more.

Just my 3 dollars worth. There is some really solid advice in this thread from the other posters. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[littlejonny]

Majik, I'm assuming you live in Calgary. Check out Bow Valley College. They've got some very good job search programs and counsellors, and it's all for free.

 

[Smoky]

Get high at work... makes the day go by better.

 

[majikcalgary]

Thanx for all the input from everyone who replied first off.

I used to think it was just the job (i werk in retail.. i CAN take a joke and I am 100% possitive the jokes will come but fire away, I need a laugh) but it is also the people I work with. Don't get me wrong, at this point in time my workmates include 2 college edjumatced people (myself included), one university, a mechinal engineer (automotive), and another engineer (oilfield based forget the job title). The last two being landed imagrants which now live in the business world so of course their training/work experience no longer apply and are expected to dish out 50 G's more in our edjumacation system to learn something they already fucking know.... doesn't seem to matter that they have been in canada for over 5 years. Obviously the negative energy is unavoidable in this group. Unfortunately when I decided to go back to school a mere 2 years ago, I set my goals low and lasted 8 months for what I trained for (pharmacy tech for those that are curious which is a different work enviornment as now but equally stressful) Outside of work thought, it is all roses and blowjobs lol Fuck, I even go to hitman/flames games with my boss. And although I know Modwest is jokin, I like my unrotten dick too much to risk the crackwhore thing They say when the little head gets hard, the big head goes soft LOL not fo this puppy.