Have you ever felt like, in your current position, you were not benefiting from it in any way? You felt stuck and began wondering if you should find a new job?
I’m a 31-year-old mom, married with two children, working full time, and a full-time undergraduate student. I’m working on my bachelor’s degree in accounting. I used to work for an amazing electronic manufacturing company where I was able to gain confidence in myself and develop skills such as leadership, taking on multiple projects at once, and becoming an asset to the sales department. Within the five years I had been employed, I was always treated with respect and felt the family dynamics of the company. They took care of their employees. I also had the best boss I have ever had.
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But for personal reasons, I knew that I wanted a different career position for myself. I was going to school for accounting and wanted to find a job to help me gain experience and learn new skills within the real world of accounting. I began to job search. After many interviews, I was offered a position that I felt I would enjoy and learn from. I dreaded the day of letting my boss know that I wanted to change careers. It was a surprise to her, but she understood my reasoning.
I started a new job as a payroll assistant for a construction company. I was going to be helping the company process weekly payroll along with other tasks. Next I was given a chance to meet many new employees and get settled in my new position. But I immediately began to have some concerns about my job.
My boss was difficult to work with.
During the first week, my new boss would tell me every morning, “Oh, you came back, I didn’t chase you away.” I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be funny or not, but I laughed anyway. I was still new, and I didn’t know my boss’s personality yet. So I brushed it off. When other employees introduced themselves, many implied that I better watch out for my boss because she is hard to work with.
The family dynamics and culture that I was told about during my interview did not match my boss’s behavior.
First, I was a new employee. I let them know that this is my first position in the accounting field so I would like proper training to master my job. They agreed. However, the feedback and expectations changed after the second week. I was taking notes, shadowing my boss, and beginning to learn the daily tasks. But when mistakes happened, I still took it as a learning opportunity. My boss did not like that idea. She expected no mistakes at all because it slowed down the process.
The performance expectations were unrealistic.
We had a 15-day review. My boss said I was doing great overall, except she expected me to have better time management. She would mention that she had a vacation coming up, so I needed to learn everything quickly. Again, this was not what I expected. I was told during my interview that they are a team, and we would work with each other to make sure I knew my job. I knew about my boss’s vacation, but it was a surprise for me to hear that I should know everything by now.
At this point, I felt that my boss and I did not have any type of connection whether work-related or not. She had her set ways of teaching the process of my job, and it wasn’t working in her favor. But she wasn’t willing to find other ways to help me out.
The environment was unprofessional and too competitive.
I felt very uncomfortable in my job setting as it felt too competitive. In my old job, I worked with colleagues in the retirement age range. At my new job, I worked with colleagues in my age range. I felt the professionalism, but I felt that I was being picked on for being on my phone for a few seconds at a time. I could not even look down at my smartwatch to check the time without being tattled on. But there were times when my colleagues would have the time to step away from their desks to talk with one another and have a small non-work-related huddle. There was also a time when alcoholic beverages were served, and many spent the last hour of the workday chatting.
Finally, I decided that I did not want to regret my decision to choose this job. I wanted a stable company to work for but the colleagues around me had created an environment that wasn’t great to be around. I wished my boss was more open and informative without being direct and impatient. So, I decided to leave my dream job.
It has been tough as I am writing this blog while I am jobless. But I know that things do happen for a reason, and I look forward to finding a new job where I feel comfortable, properly trained, and treated with respect.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.
