What Work Moment Made You Go From Proud Employee To "I'm Just Here For The Paycheck."?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Applied for an internal position. Job went to an outsider. Outsider was fired in less than a year. Applied for position again. Job went to an outsider. Outsider was fired within three months. Eff these people.

I see this a lot in my organization. The people doing the hiring have decided you are not right for promotion -- for whatever reason, rightly or wrongly. You need to go elsewhere to get a fresh start.

We recently hired from outside. The outsider is not great and I'm honestly not sure he'll last, but all of the internal candidates have been considered and either rejected or they turned it down. If this guy fails, his replacement will be from outside too.

I saw this at my last job. A highly coveted upper management job opened and there was a clear, winning internal candidate who was the most qualified of all. Well, a staffer from another division also applied for the job-- and much younger than the most qualified candidate-- and he landed the job. The older staffer apparently was rejected on a very excusable technicality. As a result, there was a lot of bad blood. Even worse, the younger candidate has no idea what he's doing. Someone wanted him in there come hell or high water. It's now a s&itshow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:COVID-19. I think I was too caught up in the day-to-day BS and too focused on moving up within the organization. I’m a Fed so I have great job security and promotions result in small raises.

I’ve realized what’s important to me is my family, my friends, and my mental and physical health. I’ve also realized that a lot of my hobbies are more enjoyable and provide more personal satisfaction than my actual job.

COVID-19 has made me transition to more of a worker bee mentality. I’m here for a paycheck. What really matters isn’t at work.

What hobbies to you have? I need one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Applied for an internal position. Job went to an outsider. Outsider was fired in less than a year. Applied for position again. Job went to an outsider. Outsider was fired within three months. Eff these people.

Not that you asked for advice, but sometimes it helps to set up a meeting with the hiring manager before applying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Applied for an internal position. Job went to an outsider. Outsider was fired in less than a year. Applied for position again. Job went to an outsider. Outsider was fired within three months. Eff these people.

Not that you asked for advice, but sometimes it helps to set up a meeting with the hiring manager before applying.

Not PP but this is good advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just coming here to say, my MBA was not bullshit. I was a liberal arts major undergrad and did not have a business class in college. I wanted to learn the things business school taught me and I did: finance, accounting, statistics, the market and how it works, organizational behavior, marketing, etc.

Not all jobs require an mba but mine was valuable, and I understand why a good program would set a candidate apart. That said many leaders in my large local company do not have one, but they were either business majors undergrad, have a grad degree of some kind or have the requisite experience needed for the job.

Just don’t shit on all MBAS, especially if you’ve never been to a good program. Also, I wish more women would get MBAs.

If you pass over internal candidates for newly minted MBAs don’t be surprised when they either jump ship or start building moats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:COVID-19. I think I was too caught up in the day-to-day BS and too focused on moving up within the organization. I’m a Fed so I have great job security and promotions result in small raises.

I’ve realized what’s important to me is my family, my friends, and my mental and physical health. I’ve also realized that a lot of my hobbies are more enjoyable and provide more personal satisfaction than my actual job.

COVID-19 has made me transition to more of a worker bee mentality. I’m here for a paycheck. What really matters isn’t at work.

What hobbies to you have? I need one.

I do legal work (pro bono), crafting via the Kiwi Co Maker Crate, and yoga/Pilates. I realize this aren’t all that exciting, but with Covid, my options are limited!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watching a mediocre, white bro fail up while kick ass women on the same team get passed over. [/quote

+1 and they all treat him like he’s the next Savior.

[Anonymous]

Being put on a team where I get very little real insight about what the company needs, strategic direction, etc.

I worked for 11 years for someone who was moving up the ranks and 2 years ago became COO and then CEO. At that time, I got moved to a different function because it structurally didn't make sense to have the tasks I was doing report directly to the CEO.

The new person I report to is nice but is so stingy with context and information. I'm used to being a right-hand person, but I can't perform to that level without context. Getting random requests for things with no bigger picture sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What hobbies to you have? I need one.

Not PP but I picked up Zentangle style drawing and love it. Can do it in short bursts, few supplies needed and no mess left out at the end of the evening, don't have to go anywhere to do it.

I need to find an active hobby I really like too.

[Anonymous]

Good grief, this is a depressing thread. My takeaway is to get more interesting hobbies and an interesting P/T job or side hustle for retirement.

[Anonymous]

Imternal promotions are always risky because the hiring managers may dislike you for a minor mistake in the past or rumors your colleagues are spreading. I remember a colleague being passed over for an outside hire because leadership didn't want morale to tank from having to choose an internal candidate over all the others. Always apply externally as you can also fluff your resume without the hiring managers knowing any better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My incompetent boss.

+1

It's tiring to deal with a boss who lacks expertise in the area in which she supervises other, and is touchy and defensive about it.

+2 except insert he for she

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being put on a team where I get very little real insight about what the company needs, strategic direction, etc.

I worked for 11 years for someone who was moving up the ranks and 2 years ago became COO and then CEO. At that time, I got moved to a different function because it structurally didn't make sense to have the tasks I was doing report directly to the CEO.

The new person I report to is nice but is so stingy with context and information. I'm used to being a right-hand person, but I can't perform to that level without context. Getting random requests for things with no bigger picture sucks.

This is a massive pet-peeve of mine. Information hoarding. Bad enough that I will try to find a new job if my new boss does this consistently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imternal promotions are always risky because the hiring managers may dislike you for a minor mistake in the past or rumors your colleagues are spreading. I remember a colleague being passed over for an outside hire because leadership didn't want morale to tank from having to choose an internal candidate over all the others. Always apply externally as you can also fluff your resume without the hiring managers knowing any better.

My experience is that managers can often pigeonhole staff that they don't supervise, in a way that may hurt their eventual promotion choices. I had a fantastic colleague once who had a bunch of proven experience in a certain area (and it was obvious that she was very talented to anyone who knew her personally or professionally), but was not currently in that role. My manager had absolutely no clue how good she was but just had a perception that she "wasn't that good" because he didn't work directly with her in that capacity.

[Anonymous]

I got covid at work. Then I kept reading all of the vitriol online about teachers, and the idiots denying that it is spread in schools.