Leaving an unethical and unpleasant workplace
April 14, 2015 10:04 AM   Subscribe

How do I balance my need to save a little money right now with an unethical and unpleasant workplace that is really draining my mood and energy?

I just made a big move 3,000 miles from New England to the Pacific Northwest, with some savings but no specific plan. I moved to challenge myself, to experience the trans community here (as a trans woman a few months into transition), and to gain some experiences to begin studies to be a therapist/counselor/psychologist/something similar. After a few months of jobs apps, burning through my savings, and a brief temping stint earlier in the month, I found a full-time position in HR/administration for a for-profit health care related company. The pay is actually pretty good, and the coworkers are fairly friendly. All is good at this point, or so I think.

The problem now is that I really dislike the work, which requires me to rebuild the same schedules again and again and try to convince providers to change their schedules at the last minute. The company is set up to force employees into a precarious situation where they're constantly responding to last-minute requests, and so my job requires a lot of salesmanship and over-the-phone pressure that I think is totally unfair for our workers, especially those trying to provide for families or just build a little stability in their lives.

When I was hired, I knew that I was supposed to work the weekends, but unfortunately I didn't realize the busses ran so poorly on Saturdays and Sundays, and so I end up leaving my house at 5 am and not getting back till 6:30pm, and then working later days on Monday and Tuesday. These cycling and challenging days are really messing with my sleep schedule and mood, and interact with my hormone levels in kind of prickly ways. Also my supervisor was just fired for drinking on the job, and so I am being asked to work overtime a bunch, which is good for my savings but kind of worrisome in general (I also recently found that, within our 5-person team, there have been 12 new members who have cycled in and have either left, been promoted, or been fired within the last 8 months. This is especially worrisome.)

At this point, I have worked two temp jobs and now this current full-time gig over the last year. I'm afraid that will look bad on a resume. Prior to this, my previous positions were for a year and two years, and so I think it looks better from 2011-2014, but I'm concerned about right now. If I went back to applying to positions, I could list my previous temp gig as either Feb-March or Jan-March, and I have a good reference there. I could leave off the position I'm at right now. But I'm nervous that it will still look very jagged, and be unclear why I left that previous position in March.

In terms of my financial and personal situation, I really want to be making at least approximately what I'm making right now (low to mid 30s) as it helps me pay off some debts incurred from moving, put together an emergency savings fund, etc. It would probably be wisest to stay at the current position till my lease ends on December 1st. But I'm concerned about my energy and mood stuff -- I think I can manage it, but I feel like I'm at risk of burning out in the next few months in a pretty ungracious way, and I also want to be in a good enough mood and with reasonable energy to really experience being here. But I also financially need to be able to support being here, too. Ahhh.

Anyways, I would love to hear any thoughts about how to make it through this stretch -- whether to start applying for jobs on my off days, put my head down and work till at least December or beyond, or something else.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (6 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
It never hurts to apply but, it seems like you have the chance to change the problems. Your supervisor's position is currently open. There has been a lot of turnover. Write up your thoughts and observations and present them to your supervisor's supervisor, as well as a plan for scheduling that is more considerate to the workers. Shake them up. The worst that can happen is that they fire you from a job that you really don't like anyway.
posted by myselfasme at 10:21 AM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Re: disliking the work: is there a way to be less attached to the outcome of the scheduling changes you are requesting so that you don't feel bad? While it is not desirable to be put others' out, there must be a reason you are being asked to do what you do, so perhaps focusing on the benefit that achieves will give you more work satisfaction. Since you cannot control how others are affected by such requests it seems like an unnecessary exercise in frustration to view your achievements (changing the schedule) as failures because of the perceived inconvenience the change is putting on the employees. You are providing a valuable service to your employer, which is ultimately serving a client.

Re: your commute: is it possible to move closer to where you work or for you to buy a car? I realize this has likely crossed your mind but it seems the only way to avoid the bus and its gappy schedule at the weekend.
posted by waving at 10:22 AM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


A long stretch of bouncing from job to job and city to city was one my most significant weaknesses when I was job hunting in a particular field. If I could talk to myself 20 years ago, that would be the best advice I'd have for 27 year old me: stick out the jobs for longer.

Many people don't like their actual work but focus on the benefits they earn - decent salary, healthcare, vacation time, good co-workers, etc. Once you go to school for your career, then you can put job satisfaction higher on the list. And I agree that paying off debt and rebuilding your savings is a worthwhile and important goal. Debt-free + emergency fund = many more options.

Meanwhile, are there any improvements to the system at your job you could suggest? You said "The company is set up to force employees into a precarious situation" but I doubt that is the goal of the company. What improvements could you suggest for a better run system? What would make the system more efficient and make employees happier (who will them be more productive, more loyal)?

Good luck!
posted by Beti at 10:26 AM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


I LOVE MyselfAsMe's suggestion.
Nature abhors a vacuum, so why not try to do something positive for yourself and your coworkers (who might feel the exact same way as you) and try angling for your ex-supervisor's job?
If you have great ideas, put them into a proposal, put some numbers to back you up (if any) and see if they bite.

I assume that it's cost them a lot of money to keep hiring and training folks for the same positions over and over again, and anything they could do to help retain good workers would be a step in the right direction for everyone concerned.

When it comes to making the suggestions, always be Spock, never be Kirk.

You could be a force for positive change! Maybe that's why the Universe placed you there to begin with?
Good luck on ya! I wish you the best!
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 10:31 AM on April 14, 2015


Start applying for jobs on your off days, while you keep your head down at this job and work. Avoid leaving before you have another job lined up and definitely avoid "burning out in the next few months in a pretty ungracious way." The more burned out you get, the harder it will be to effectively job hunt and interview. Additionally, your team is hemorrhaging employees; if upper management cared to change this, the change would already be happening. I say all of this from a place of experience.

I think it'd be simple to explain to interviewers that you moved across the country, picked up temporary work for a while, and then landed a full-time gig but are looking for more challenges/are more interested in X/your working days changed and your commute is killer/whatever. Any employer worth working for will get that, so long as you keep a positive spin. Make sure your resume makes it clear that your temp jobs were temp jobs; if you have the position marked "temporary work," then no one is going to wonder why you left your temp job in March.

Good luck.
posted by coast99 at 12:41 PM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm not sure how good "pretty good" pay is, but is good enough that it would be possible to uber instead of busing in on the way in or the way out so you get reasonable hours? Or good enough to afford a place closer to the job? Lots of people at my work also carpool, is the company big enough that you could send out a "spam" mail asking if anyone is driving back in your direction pretty regularly and offering to pay for the gas?
If the supervisor's position pays more, I'd also definitely sell that to management, saying I've been managing both of our jobs and am clearly qualified so you should promote me.
There's no harm in applying for other jobs. I don't think you need to leave off the current position. Just list it, and if they ask why you want to leave explain that it wasn't a good fit because of the bus schedule. I think most employers would understand not wanting to be at work 13 hours a day on weekends.
posted by uncreative at 7:55 PM on April 14, 2015


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