How do I prevent old bad job from haunting good new job?
July 20, 2010 2:39 PM Subscribe
Last job was rough, got injured and fired, also accused of stealing months later. About to start new job and nervous...
I work on theater tours as a stagehand. I work extremely hard and always do my absolute best. Working for Company A, though, I seriously got my head handed to me on a plate.
There is a lot of backstory to this, but here are four quick aspects so you can see what I'm dealing with:
1. My boss's wife was my assistant and really wanted to be running my department. She constantly undermined me, changing things on the fly/refusing to do certain duties, etc. and screamed at me when I tried to resolve through discussion, which would lead her husband to be angry with me. This "too many cooks in the kitchen" thing was really the worst part of the whole tour.
2. The crew I worked with were less experienced than I and had never done the specific type of show I was specifically brought in to do. Though I was always open to making concessions, I was often belittled, backstabbed, etc. for trying to do things differently than they were used to. They were also pretty irresponsible. Our crew chief was too drunk to work two shows one day (first show forgetting to open the main curtain at the beginning of the show), one girl cried to get attention all of the time, our props person would "forget" or "misplace" props constantly, affecting the shows, one guy just was always in a horrible, hateful mood and would write nasty things about the actors on his facebook, etc.
3. During a loadout, a crate I was pushing fell on my foot, breaking my toe in three places. I tried to go back to work, but it was way too painful, so the doctor sent me home for three weeks. At the end of three weeks, the doctor told me my bone had not come together yet and I still had to wear an open-toed boot, hence not being able to go back to work yet. Company A fires me, saying they've moved on and need to replace me asap.
I talk to union, they advise me to "move on" and refuse to help with any sort of "that company did wrong" lawsuit. Company B offers me another job almost instantly (paying way more money for less work), so I decided to let it go rather than try to sue and "ruin my reputation in the entertainment industry" - for that's what the union says. In any case, I'm pretty happy not to have to go back due to 1 and 2, so I drop it.
4. I heard from one of my friends still on the tour that cry-all-the-time girl had accused me of pocketing money for a end of the year party. This was money that was handed to me during load-outs when actors wanted to put their luggage on the trucks for transport. I would hand over this money to my crew chief immediately after load-out - I only ever got maybe $80, and it apparently all vanished. I confronted crying girl saying these things with an email, and hate-everyone-guy called me and I told him exactly what I wrote here.
In hindsight, there should have been some sort of accountability system and I shouldn't have trusted the crew chief. In any case, I'm still really hurt by this - and pissed that they would say things like that about me. I found out a little over a week ago.
Now, I'm about to start another tour with Company B. I see from facebook stalking that a lot of them used to work for Company A and are friends with some of the good people, but also some of the very bad people who will have nothing but horrible (mostly greatly exagerrated) things to say about me and my performance. I defriended the bad co-workers, but they all know what tour I'm going to, and, oh my god, I have learned that these guys love putting each other down.
I am not saying I didn't make mistakes with Company A, which I've been beating myself up for despite their insignificance in the giant scheme of things, but I do believe some of my former co-workers have turned me into their scapegoat and I'm worried about this following me into my next workplace - and haunting me all this coming year.
I love what I do, am very competent at it and want to do it for the rest of my life. I'd like to chalk up last year to being "a bad year" and moving on, but at this point, I'm very insecure and anxious about my next position. I have an overall "don't want to screw this up" feeling about Company B which I know will only make me crazy.
I would love to hear about your experiences in this sort of situation. Or if you have any advice on how to handle myself, or any potentially poopy situations. It would really help me.
Thank you so much!
I work on theater tours as a stagehand. I work extremely hard and always do my absolute best. Working for Company A, though, I seriously got my head handed to me on a plate.
There is a lot of backstory to this, but here are four quick aspects so you can see what I'm dealing with:
1. My boss's wife was my assistant and really wanted to be running my department. She constantly undermined me, changing things on the fly/refusing to do certain duties, etc. and screamed at me when I tried to resolve through discussion, which would lead her husband to be angry with me. This "too many cooks in the kitchen" thing was really the worst part of the whole tour.
2. The crew I worked with were less experienced than I and had never done the specific type of show I was specifically brought in to do. Though I was always open to making concessions, I was often belittled, backstabbed, etc. for trying to do things differently than they were used to. They were also pretty irresponsible. Our crew chief was too drunk to work two shows one day (first show forgetting to open the main curtain at the beginning of the show), one girl cried to get attention all of the time, our props person would "forget" or "misplace" props constantly, affecting the shows, one guy just was always in a horrible, hateful mood and would write nasty things about the actors on his facebook, etc.
3. During a loadout, a crate I was pushing fell on my foot, breaking my toe in three places. I tried to go back to work, but it was way too painful, so the doctor sent me home for three weeks. At the end of three weeks, the doctor told me my bone had not come together yet and I still had to wear an open-toed boot, hence not being able to go back to work yet. Company A fires me, saying they've moved on and need to replace me asap.
I talk to union, they advise me to "move on" and refuse to help with any sort of "that company did wrong" lawsuit. Company B offers me another job almost instantly (paying way more money for less work), so I decided to let it go rather than try to sue and "ruin my reputation in the entertainment industry" - for that's what the union says. In any case, I'm pretty happy not to have to go back due to 1 and 2, so I drop it.
4. I heard from one of my friends still on the tour that cry-all-the-time girl had accused me of pocketing money for a end of the year party. This was money that was handed to me during load-outs when actors wanted to put their luggage on the trucks for transport. I would hand over this money to my crew chief immediately after load-out - I only ever got maybe $80, and it apparently all vanished. I confronted crying girl saying these things with an email, and hate-everyone-guy called me and I told him exactly what I wrote here.
In hindsight, there should have been some sort of accountability system and I shouldn't have trusted the crew chief. In any case, I'm still really hurt by this - and pissed that they would say things like that about me. I found out a little over a week ago.
Now, I'm about to start another tour with Company B. I see from facebook stalking that a lot of them used to work for Company A and are friends with some of the good people, but also some of the very bad people who will have nothing but horrible (mostly greatly exagerrated) things to say about me and my performance. I defriended the bad co-workers, but they all know what tour I'm going to, and, oh my god, I have learned that these guys love putting each other down.
I am not saying I didn't make mistakes with Company A, which I've been beating myself up for despite their insignificance in the giant scheme of things, but I do believe some of my former co-workers have turned me into their scapegoat and I'm worried about this following me into my next workplace - and haunting me all this coming year.
I love what I do, am very competent at it and want to do it for the rest of my life. I'd like to chalk up last year to being "a bad year" and moving on, but at this point, I'm very insecure and anxious about my next position. I have an overall "don't want to screw this up" feeling about Company B which I know will only make me crazy.
I would love to hear about your experiences in this sort of situation. Or if you have any advice on how to handle myself, or any potentially poopy situations. It would really help me.
Thank you so much!
Actions speak louder than words. Work your butt off, do a good job and the history will be just that, history.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:25 PM on July 20, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:25 PM on July 20, 2010 [4 favorites]
So wait, you've worked for a period with company B after your departure from company A, and company B has called you back for another project? Unless I'm missing something here, you've made the right impression on somebody at company B. If somebody comes up to them now to warn them what a terrible person you are, it's unlikely that they're going to pay them much mind.
If all you have to link these people together is facebook, I wouldn't sweat this too much. If you had a less crappy experience with A you might be linked to all kinds of people with A for potential networking purposes even if you thought they were jerks. I wouldn't approach the new coworkers with, "So, did you think Bob was as much of a waste of meat as I did?" but I wouldn't be surprised if some of your new coworkers clue you in that they are happier to be working for B instead of A.
If anyone asks you about something their friend from A told them, say something like, "There were one or two people in A who felt that keeping everyone else down was the best way to rise to the top. I'm sorry to hear he believes that, but I'm surprised he wasn't convinced of worse things about me." It says that you were in a toxic environment but that you don't blame their friend (even if you do).
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 4:20 PM on July 20, 2010
If all you have to link these people together is facebook, I wouldn't sweat this too much. If you had a less crappy experience with A you might be linked to all kinds of people with A for potential networking purposes even if you thought they were jerks. I wouldn't approach the new coworkers with, "So, did you think Bob was as much of a waste of meat as I did?" but I wouldn't be surprised if some of your new coworkers clue you in that they are happier to be working for B instead of A.
If anyone asks you about something their friend from A told them, say something like, "There were one or two people in A who felt that keeping everyone else down was the best way to rise to the top. I'm sorry to hear he believes that, but I'm surprised he wasn't convinced of worse things about me." It says that you were in a toxic environment but that you don't blame their friend (even if you do).
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 4:20 PM on July 20, 2010
I love what I do, am very competent at it and want to do it for the rest of my life.
This drives, plain and simple. Forget about what happened with Company A. Think of it this way: you could, in theory, encounter the same situation at Company C with some random group of people you've never even met/worked with. The point is, there are always unknowns in new jobs. The only thing you can control is your own contribution.
Like JohnnyGunn said, actions speak louder than words. Don't lower yourself to the drama, wherever it may or may not occur. Do your job, show respect where it's due, and you'll keep your reputation intact.
posted by Brak at 6:59 PM on July 20, 2010
This drives, plain and simple. Forget about what happened with Company A. Think of it this way: you could, in theory, encounter the same situation at Company C with some random group of people you've never even met/worked with. The point is, there are always unknowns in new jobs. The only thing you can control is your own contribution.
Like JohnnyGunn said, actions speak louder than words. Don't lower yourself to the drama, wherever it may or may not occur. Do your job, show respect where it's due, and you'll keep your reputation intact.
posted by Brak at 6:59 PM on July 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Comp. A really just sounds like you were put in an impossible position; I doubt your boss wanted to manage his wife, either. Wife undermined and Boss didn't back you up, like a wimp. Just be glad you're out of there and don't worry about the ex-coworkers. Company B wants you, that's all that's important.
posted by rhizome at 2:48 PM on July 20, 2010